1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar falls amid diving oil

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major peers on Friday as plunging oil prices raised market demand for safe-haven currencies including the Japanese yen and Swiss francs.

Oil prices declined sharply Friday, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude slumping over three percent, after government data showed a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.

The yen and Swiss francs climbed 0.55 percent and 0.26 percent respectively against the greenback during the session, as the falling oil renewed market worries about global economic growth, triggering demand for safe-haven assets.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other currencies, was down 0.33 percent at 96.634 in late trading.

On the economic front, the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers was unchanged in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.

The index for all items less food and energy percent increased 0.3 in January, which has increased 2.2 percent over the past 12 months. This is its highest 12-month change since the period ending June 2012, and exceeds the 1.9 percent average annualized increase over the last 10 years.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1132 dollars from 1.1092 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.4352 dollars from 1.4321 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7143 dollars from 0.7154 dollars.

The dollar bought 112.51 Japanese yen, lower than 113.57 yen of the previous session. The greenback moved down to 0.9895 Swiss franc from 0.9953 Swiss franc, and rose to 1.3781 Canadian dollars from 1.3740 Canadian dollars. Endit