NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar traded mixed against most major currencies on Friday, as investors mainly focused on the newly-released economic data.
U.S. consumer sentiment in January slipped to 94.4, after falling to 95.9 in December, according to a survey released by the University of Michigan on Friday, lower than economists' expectations of 97.
Media reported this hints at weakness for not only consumer spending in January but also perhaps for the labor market and the January employment report.
Meanwhile, investors also assessed the possibility of a government shutdown.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, but whether the bill could pass the Senate remains uncertain.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.06 percent to 90.555 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.2235 dollars from 1.2243 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.3875 dollars from 1.3893 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar rose to 0.8002 dollar from 0.7999 dollar.
The dollar bought 110.62 Japanese yen, lower than 110.99 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9618 Swiss franc from 0.9585 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.2482 Canadian dollars from 1.2431 Canadian dollars.
