Dollar hovers close to 4-month highs vs. other majors.

Forex

Investing.com - The dollar continued to hover close to four-month highs against the other major currencies on Friday, as global growth worries continued to weigh on sentiment.

EUR/USD slipped 0.11% to 1.1014, still close to Wednesday’s one-month low of 1.0979.

The euro strengthened briefly after ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that European markets weathered the post-Brexit volatility with “encouraging resilience”, but reiterated that the central bank is ready to act by using all the instruments available under its mandate if necessary.

Draghi also said the euro zone recovery faces several headwinds, and the risks remain tilted to the downside, citing the UK referendum, slowing emerging markets and the slow pace of structural reforms as key threats.

Earlier Friday, research group Markit said its Flash Euro Zone Composite purchasing managers index, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors dipped from 53.1 in June to 52.9 in July, above forecasts for 52.5.

GBP/USD dropped 0.94% to 1.3107.

Markit said its U.K. manufacturing PMI fell to 49.1 in July from a reading of 52.1 in June. Economists had expected the index to fall to 47.8 this month.

The U.K. services PMI dropped to 47.4 in July from a reading of 52.3 in June, compared to expectations for a decline to 48.9.

The data added to fears over U.K. growth as investors continue to asses the economic effects of the Brexit vote.

USD/JPY added 0.10% to 105.97, off the previous session’s seven-week high of 107.48, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9863.

The yen had strengthened on Thursday after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda in a BBC interview played down speculation Japan may be preparing "helicopter money" economic stimulus, which essentially consists in injecting cash directly to the economy by printing money.

But the BBC later said its interview with Kuroda had been conducted in mid-June, which pushed the yen back down.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were lower, with AUD/USD down 0.52% at 0.7453 and with NZD/USD edging down 0.13% to 0.6987.

Elsewhere, USD/CAD climbed 0.53% to trade at a two-week high of 1.3158.

Statistics Canada reported on Friday that retail sales rose 0.2% in May, beating expectations for a flat reading. Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, increased by 0.9%.

A separate report showed that Canada’s consumer price index rose 0.2% in June, exceeding expectations for an uptick of 0.1%. Year-on-year, consumer prices increased by 1.5% last month.

Core CPI, which excludes the eight most volatile items, was flat in June, in line with expectations.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.26% at 97.19, close to Wednesday’s four-month highs of 97.37.