Dollar drifts lower amid mixed US data

The U.S. dollar drifted lower against most major currencies Friday amid mixed U.S. economic data.
U.S. personal consumption expenditure, which accounts for about 70 percent of the U.S. economic activity, decreased 0.1 percent in April, said the U.S. Commerce Department Friday.
Moreover, U.S. consumer sentiment fell in May, with the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading of the index standing at 81.9, slightly higher than the preliminary reading of 81.8, but lower than market consensus.
However, the Chicago Business Barometer in May came out better than expected. The index rose to 65.5 in May from 63.0 in the prior month, the highest since October, the Institute for Supply Management said Friday.
The greenback is still pressured by the downwardly revised first-quarter U.S. growth rate released on Thursday. The U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent in the first quarter. It was the first contraction since the first quarter of 2011 when the GDP decreased 1.3 percent.
The surprising drop of U.S. economic growth raised speculation that the Federal Reserve may maintain its extremely accommodative monetary policy for a longer time.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank (ECB) policy makers will meet on June 5 to discuss monetary policy. ECB President Mario Draghi has recently said the euro's strength is hurting the central bank' s effort to boost inflation, which increased speculation that the ECB may expand monetary stimulus.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3633 dollars from 1.3602 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.6764 dollars from 1.6720 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9302 dollars from 0.9290 dollars.
The dollar bought 101.69 Japanese yen, lower than 101.73 yen of the previous session. The dollar went down to 0.8951 Swiss francs from 0.8977 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.0845 Canadian dollars from 1.0840 Canadian dollars.