Investing.com - The U.S. dollar headed for a third-day of losses against major currencies on Friday, as US new home sales missed expectations while consumer confidence marginally beat analysts’ estimates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.04% to 101.91 and is on course to end the trading week in negative territory.
The dollar recovered from its early morning losses, but ultimately remained under pressure, after the release of mixed U.S. economic data failed to spur a broad dollar recovery.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted 555,000 units but missed analysts’ estimates of a 6.3% rise in January.
U.S. consumer sentiment remained upbeat, after The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index hit 96.3 in February, compared to expectations of 96.3.
The dollar continued to be weighed down from earlier events during the week: Wednesday’s Fed minutes, revealed a reluctance among some Fed members’ to support a raise in interest rates while uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s economic policies on economic growth remained.
Elsewhere, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday, that President Trump’s pro-growth policies, which are viewed as inflationary and a boon for the dollar, will have a limited impact in 2017.
The dollar lost ground against its Canadian counterpart, after a strong bout of Canadian inflation data, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9% In January, beating expectations of a 0.3% increase. USD/CAD traded 0.17% lower at $1.3083
GBP/USD retreated by more than 0.5% to $1.248 at 12:35 ET 5:35 GMT while EUR/USD gained 0.07% to trade higher at 1.058
Meanwhile, USD/JPY traded lower at $112.16, down 0.40%