Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Friday, as Thursday's upbeat U.S. jobless claims data continued to support demand for the greenback.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 19 declined by 19,000 to an more than eight-year low of 284,000, from the previous week’s total of 303,000.
The data fuelled speculation over the timing of a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
EUR/USD remained near six-month lows at 1.3449.
The Ifo Institute for Economic Research earlier reported that its German business climate index fell to a nine-month low of 108.0 this month, from a reading of 109.7 in June. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 109.4 in July.
A separate report showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to a seven-and-a-half year high of 9.0 this month, from a reading of 8.9 in June. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged in July.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss france, with USD/JPY up 0.10% to 101.91 and with USD/CHF adding 0.14% to 0.9038.
In Japan, official data earlier showed that consumer price inflation rose 3.6% in June from a year earlier, after a 3.7% gain the previous month.
Excluding fresh food, Japan CPI rose 3.3% in June from a year earlier, in line with expectations, after a 3.4% increase in May.
Sterling held steady, near one-month lows with GBP/USD at 1.6975 even as U.K. economic growth data came out in line with expectations.
Preliminary data showed that U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.8% in the second quarter, in line with market expectations.
The New Zealand dollar was lower, with NZD/USD down 0.27% to 0.8550 after data showed that the ANZ business confidence index fell to 39.7 this month, from a reading of 42.8 in June.
AUD/USD slipped 0.10% to 0.9409, while USD/CAD added 0.17% to 1.0761.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, hit five-month highs, edging up 0.11% to 81.04.