Dollar drops on modest inflation

The dollar turned lower Friday against major currencies after a report the US consumer price index increased less than expected last month. Excluding food and energy, the CPI rose 0.1 percent. Overall, inflation rose 0.4 percent, mostly on fuel prices. The US dollar index on the Intercontinental Exchange dropped to 79.776 from 80.158. While Friday's decline in the dollar sharply reduced weekly gains, the dollar remains up 1.3 percent on the month. Gold futures dropped Friday to post a 3.3 percent loss for the week on US economic news that was deemed mostly positive. Losses were tempered, however, by concerns about inflation and an unexpected drop in consumer sentiment, analysts said. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for April delivery fell $3.70 to close at $1,655.80 per troy ounce. Silver for May delivery declined 12 cents to close at $32.60 an ounce. The euro rose from the previous day's $1.3080 and the yen moved slightly higher to 83.40. The British pound rose to $1.5842 and the Hong Kong dollar came in at 7.7630 from 7.7631 HKD. The Canadian dollar held steady against the US dollar at .9916, compared with Thursday's .9919.