Forex - Dollar edges lower on mixed data, BoJ minutes

Investing.com - The dollar traded mixed to lower against most major currencies on Friday after soft consumer sentiment data added to already growing uncertainty as to when the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back stimulus measures.

The release of the Bank of Japan's minutes from its May monetary policy meeting suggested stimulus programs in Japan may face an exit strategy, which strengthened the yen against the dollar, though better-than-expected wholesale pricing data in the U.S. gave the greenback some support.

In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was down 0.21% at 1.3346.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier that the U.S. producer price index rose 0.5% in May, beating expectations for a 0.1% rise after a 0.7% decline the previous month, which gave the dollar some support.

The core producer price index, which is stripped of the more volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1% last month, in line with expectations, after a 0.1% gain in April.

However, the Federal Reserve reported earlier industrial production in the U.S. came in flat in May, missing expectations for a 0.2% rise though up from a 0.4% contraction the previous month.

Weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment data pushed the greenback lower, especially against the yen.

Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 82.7 in June from 84.5 in May.

Analysts were expecting the reading to remain unchanged at 84.5.

Elsewhere in the eurozone, official data revealed that the consumer price index remained unchanged in May at an annualized rate of 1.4%, in line with expectations.

Core consumer price inflation in the single currency bloc, which is stripped of food, energy, alcohol and tobacco items, rose to an annualized rate of 1.2% last month from 1% the previous month, in line with expectations.

The greenback, meanwhile, was up against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.10% at 1.5705.

The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 1.03% at 94.39, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.09% at 0.9214.

The yen strengthened against the dollar after BoJ policymakers said the bank should specify a 2-year limit for its monetary easing to help quell bond-market volatility, according to the minutes of the BoJ's May 21-22 meeting.

The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.13% at 1.0172, AUD/USD down 0.54% at 0.9588 and NZD/USD trading down 0.48% at 0.8059.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.06% at 80.84.