By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar remained higher on Friday, extending gains against the Japanese yen, after a report showed U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in January, more than economists expected and reversing a revised 0.1% decline in December. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.6%. The dollar index (DXY 80.56, +0.57, +0.71%) , which tracks the greenback versus six major currencies, jumped to 80.524 from 80.016 in late New York trading. The euro fell to $1.3585 from $1.3688. It earlier touched $1.3531, the shared currency's worst since May. Still to come are reports on consumer confidence and business inventories. The dollar was higher before the data, which analysts attributed to further reaction to the European Union's lack of direct aid to Greece and China's increase in its reserve requirement to cool economic growth.
