NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar extended losses against a basket of currencies on Thursday after data showed U.S. retail sales dropped more than expected last month, reinforcing expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal reserve by the middle of the year.
A report showed retail sales fell 0.8% in January, much lower than an expected decline of 0.1% based on a Reuters poll.
The U.S. dollar index was last down 0.3% at 104.36. Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.5% to 149.79.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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