Investing.com - The dollar fell against the other major currencies on Friday, as the previous session’s downbeat U.S. economic reports and the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates continued to weigh.
USD/JPY was steady at 104.29, still close to Thursday’s 22-month low of 103.55.
Sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable after the U.S. Department of Labor said on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 11 increased by 13,000 to 277,000.
In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department said consumer prices rose 0.2% in May, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain. Year-over- year, consumer prices were 1.0% higher last month, below expectations for a 1.1% gain.
Investors were now eyeing the release of data on U.S. building permits and housing starts later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
The yen had rallied against the dollar after Bank of Japan officials voted on Thursday to continue expanding the monetary base at an annual rate of about ¥80 billion.
At the conclusion of its monetary policy meeting on Thursday, the BoJ also flagged the EU referendum on June 23 as a key geopolitical threat to the Japanese economy, along with the “European debt problem”.
The decision came after the Fed also cited the referendum as a factor in its decision on Wednesday to keep interest rates on hold.
The dollar had already weakened against the other major currencies when the Fed kept rates unchanged and lowered forecasts for how much they expect to hike interest rates in the next few years.
EUR/USD rose 0.21% to 1.1250.
The dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.65% at 1.4297 and with USD/CHF shedding 0.22% to 0.9631.
The Bank of England also chose on Thursday to maintain its current monetary policy and reiterated that the possibility of a Brexit was "the largest immediate risk facing U.K. financial markets, and possibly also global financial markets."
However, campaigning for the British referendum was halted late Thursday, after a pro-EU British lawmaker, Jo Cox, was shot to death while meeting with constituents.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.35% at 0.7389 and with NZD/USD adding 0.14% to 0.7055.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD slid 0.29% to trade at 1.2927, off the previous session’s two-week high of 1.3085.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.22% at 94.55.