1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar weakens on soft data

The U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies Friday as economic data from the country came out negative.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased 4 percent to 240.2 billion dollars, while the core reading, which excludes the transportation sector, dipped 0.2 percent, following a decline of 1.3 percent in February, according to U.S Commerce Department Friday.

"Cheap oil and a strong dollar, while beneficial to consumers, are putting serious pressure on manufacturers. There is little indication that energy prices will return to their previous level and the dollar shows no sign of weakening. In other words, it's going to be a rough year for domestic manufacturing," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.38 percent at 96.909 in late trading.

The euro rose against the U.S. dollar as Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Friday after tense talks with his eurozone peers that Greece is willing to make compromises to reach a deal on its debt.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.0867 dollars from 1.0825 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound went up to 1.5174 U.S. dollars from 1.5057 dollars. The Australian dollar edged up to 0.7823 U.S. dollar from 0.7777 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 118.87 Japanese yen, lower than 119.49 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar went down to 0.9535 Swiss franc from 0.9547 Swiss franc and rose to 1.2173 Canadian dollars from 1.2144 Canadian dollars. Endite