The dollar was mostly weaker Friday as tame U.S. producer price inflation data diminished expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
Concerns about escalating violence in Iraq boosted the dollar’s safe have value, but traders were reluctant to make any big moves.
President Barack Obama said the U.S. will not be putting troops on the ground in Iraq, even as militants made incursions near the capital Baghdad.
The dollar was stead at $1.3640 versus the euro, locked in a tight range near last week’s 4-month peak of $1.35.
In economic news from the euro area, employment rose 0.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013, when there was a similar gain.
The buck lost ground versus the sterling after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the interest rates in the U.K. could rise sooner than investors expect.
Early losses took the dollar to $1.6970 versus the sterling, down a penny from the previous session.
There was little movement versus the yen, with pair holding in a stubborn trading range near Y102.
Looking closer at today’s economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected drop in U.S. producer prices in the month of May.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand dipped by 0.2 percent in May after climbing by 0.6 percent in April.
With consumer expectations taking a hit, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of June.
The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for June came in at 81.2 compared to the final May reading of 81.9.