Investing.com - The dollar was broadly lower against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, as investors awaited the release of U.S. inflation data later in the day and as Thursday's downbeat economic reports continued to weigh.
The dollar remained under pressure after a string of downbeat U.S. economic reports on Thursday fuelled fresh uncertainty over the strength of the recovery.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 16 rose more than expected by 10,000 to 274,000.
Separately, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell unexpectedly by 3.3% in April to 5.04 million units, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index declined to 6.7 this month from a reading of 7.5 in April.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.57% to 94.93.
EUR/USD climbed 0.78% to 1.1199.
The single currency found support after the Ifo Institute said that its German business climate index ticked down to 108.5 this month from 108.6 in April, compared to expectations for a decline to 108.3.
The euro also strengthened after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said at a conference in Portugal that the ECB's policies have helped the euro zone's economy to recover.
"The economic outlook for the euro area is brighter today than it has been for seven long years. Monetary policy is working its way through the economy. Growth is picking up. And inflation expectations have recovered from their trough," he said.
However, concerns over a possible Greek default persisted after late-night negotiations between Greek, French and German government leaders ended without any sign of a breakthrough that will unlock bailout funds.
The pound was steady with GBP/USD at 1.5652.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics earlier reported that public sector net borrowing rose by £6.04 billion in April, compared to expectations for an increase of £7.80 billion.
Elsewhere, the dollar was still lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY down 0.22% to 120.76 and with USD/CHF retreating 0.84% to 0.9292.
At its monthly policy meeting on Friday, the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy on hold and signaled growing confidence in the strength of the economy.
"Private consumption has been resilient against the background of steady improvement in the employment and income situation," the BoJ said. In April, the central bank had said that"recovery in some areas has been sluggish".
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7896, while NZD/USD rose 0.29% to 0.7369.
USD/CAD was little changed at 1.2196.