Investing.com - The dollar held steadt against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. consumer sentiment data later in the day and continued to focus on Greek debt talks.
The dollar found support after data on Thursday showed that U.S. personal spending rose by 0.9% in May, above expectations for a gain of 0.7%.
The report also showed personal income rose by 0.5% in May, in line with forecasts and after rising 0.5% in April.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 20 increased by 3,000 to 271,000 from the previous week’s total of 268,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 272,000 last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.42.
EUR/USD held steady at 1.1203 after negotiations between Greece and its creditors broke down once again on Thursday.
Time is running out for the Greek government to secure a deal to unlock bailout funds ahead of the looming deadline for a €1.6 billion repayment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30.
If Greece misses the payment it risks going into default, which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro area.
The pound slipped lower, with GBP/USD down 0.18% to 1.5726.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 123.69 and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF sliding 0.44% to 0.9323.
Official data earlier showed that Japan's household spending rose 2.4% last month, exceeding expectations for a 2.2% gain, after a 5.5% drop in April.
A separate report showed that Japan's consumer price index increased by an annualized rate of 0.5% in May, more than the expected 0.4% uptick, after an increase of 0.6% the previous month.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 1.05% to 0.7658 and with NZD/USD declining 0.76% to 0.6854.
Earlier Friday, data showed that New Zealand's trade surplus widened to NZ$350 million in May from NZ$183 million in April, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of NZ$123 million.
Analysts had expected the trade balance to swing into a deficit of NZ$100 million last month.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.28% to trade at 1.2361.