Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as investors' attention turned to the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy-setting meeting, amig ongoing uncertainty over the future of the central bank's monetary stimulus program.
During European morning trade, the dollar was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.09% to 1.3290.
Markets were jittery as a string of mixed U.S. economic reports last week fuelled further uncertainty over whether the central bank will soon begin to scale back its bond-buying program.
On Friday, the University of Michigan said its index of consumer sentiment ticked up to 85.1 in July from a reading of 83.9 the previous month, beating expectations for a rise to 84.0.
The data came a day after the Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits the previous week increased by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 6,000 to 340,000.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD edging up 0.14% to 1.5407.
In a report, the Bank of England said net lending to individuals rose to GBP1.5 billion in June, from GBP1.2 billion the previous month.
Analysts had expected net lending to individuals to rise to GBP1.4 billion last month.
Market participants were also eyeing the BoE's policy statement later in the week for indications on the future of the bank's monetary stimulus program, after official data last week showed that growth in the U.K. economy accelerated in line with expectations in the second quarter.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.38% to trade at 97.93, and with USD/CHF dipping 0.04% to 0.9280.
In Japan, government data on Monday showed that retail sales rose by an annualized rate of 1.6% in June, less than the expected 1.9% increase, after a 0.8% gain the previous month.
Separately, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhido Kuroda said the stimulus measures intoduced by the central bank last April are having positive effects on financial markets, the economy, and expectations for price rises.
Speaking at the Research Institute of Japan, in Tokyo, Kuroda cautioned however that the BoJ is still far from achieving its 2% inflation goal.
The greenback was mixed to lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.07% to 1.0271, AUD/USD edging 0.17% lower to 0.9247 and NZD/USD inching up 0.02% to 0.8085.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.11% to 81.67.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce industry data on pending home sales.
