The U.S. dollar was steady against several major currencies on Friday as investors awaited the release of U.S. inflation data that is scheduled to be made public later in the day.
USD/JPY fell by 0.34% to 112.87.
Demand for the safe-haven Japanese yen increased after oil prices fell again on Friday, a day after data from the United States Energy Information Administration revealed that U.S. crude stockpiles ballooned by 2.1 million barrels last week, hitting a peak of 504.1 million barrels.
EUR/USD was virtually unchanged at 1.1101.
Sentiment on the euro was fragile after the minutes of the European Central Bank’s January meeting, which was released on Thursday, indicated that the monetary body is prepared to ease its monetary policy in March.
Elsewhere, the American currency was stronger against the sterling and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD falling 0.32% at 1.4290 and the USD/CHF gaining 0.11% to 0.9939.
Sentiment on the British pound was lukewarm as Britain’s membership in the European Union remains uncertain.
Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were lower against the greenback, with AUD/USD declining 0.61% to 0.7112 and the NZD/USD shedding 0.38% to trade at 0.6619.
USD/CAD rose 0.35% to trade at 1.3775.
The U.S. dollar index, which quantifies the American currency’s position against a bunch of trade-weighted major currencies, was steady at 96.91.