Dollar turns broadly lower after mixed U.S. data

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar turned broadly lower against most of its major counterparts on Friday, following the release of mixed U.S. economic data, while concerns over Greece's financial woes continued to weigh.

During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.03% to 1.2938.

In a report, the University of Michigan said that its index of consumer sentiment fell to 82.6 in October, from a reading of 83.1 the previous month.

Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 83.0 in October.

The data came after the Bureau of Economic Analysis earlier said that U.S. GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.0% in the third quarter, from 1.3% in the previous quarter.

Analysts had expected U.S. gross domestic product to rise 1.9% in the last quarter.

But sentiment on the euro remained fragile amid concerns over Greece's financial troubles, after a report from the International Monetary Fund said Greek debt would be above the target agreed with international lenders.

Markets were also jittery amid ongoing uncertainty over when Spain will request a bailout and trigger the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme.

Earlier Friday, a Gfk report showed that its consumer climate index for Germany improved unexpectedly to 6.3 in October from a reading of 6.1 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 5.9 in October.

A separate report showed that Spain's unemployment rate rose to 25.0% in the second quarter, from a rate of 24.6% the previous quarter, barely beating expectations for a rise to 25.1%.

The greenback was also steady against the pound, with GBP/USD inching 0.01% higher to 1.6121.

Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply lower against the yen, with USD/JPY dropping 0.85% to hit 79.61, and slipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing 0.07% to trade at 0.9346.

In Switzerland, the KOF Economic Research Agency said that its economic barometer fell to 1.67, from 1.68 the previous month, whose figure was revised up from 1.67.

Analysts had expected the KOF economic barometer to fall to 1.63 last month.

In addition, the greenback was mixed to lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD adding 0.09% to 0.9958, AUD/USD rising 0.26% to 1.0373 and NZD/USD climbing 0.53% to hit 0.8225.

The National Bank of New Zealand said earlier that its index of business confidence rose to 17.2 in October from a reading of 17.0 the previous month.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.03%, to trade at 80.15.