Investing.com - The dollar edged back higher against the other major currencies on Friday, after data showed that U.S. existing home sales rose more than expected last month and as expectations for a U.S. rate hike in June continued to support the greenback.
USD/JPY climbed 0.54% to a fresh three-and-a-half week high of 110.54.
The U.S. National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 1.7% in April to 5.45 million units from the 5.36 million units in March that was revised up from the initial read of 5.33.
The consensus forecast was for a 1.3% increase to 5.40 million units.
The dollar remained broadly supported after the Federal Reserve’s April meeting minutes on Wednesday showed that officials said a June rate hike would be appropriate if economic data indicated that growth was picking up in the second quarter and employment and inflation were firming.
In addition, New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said on Thursday that the U.S. economy could be strong enough to warrant a rate hike in June or July.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1209, close to Thursday’s seven-week low of 1.1180.
The dollar moved higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD down 0.57% at 1.4528 and with USD/CHF adding 0.12% to 0.9920.
The Australian dollar turned lower, with AUD/USD down 0.15% at 0.7215, while NZD/USD added 0.18% to 0.6753.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD gained 0.49% to fresh six-week highs of 1.3158.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the consumer price index rose 0.3% in April, in line with expectations and after a 0.6% gain the previous month. Year-on-year, consumer prices increased by 1.7%, as expected.
Core CPI, which excludes the eight most volatile items, rose by 0.2% last month, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.1%.
A separate report showed that Canada’s retail sales dropped 1.0% in March, compared to expectations for a 0.6% slip and after a revised 0.6% gain the previous month.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, fell 0.3% in March, confounding expectations for a 0.4% fall.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.14% at 95.42, just off Thursday’s seven-week peak of 95.51.