FRANKFURT, Germany – The dollar fell against most major currencies Friday ahead of the release of the April housing starts report, which economists expect to decline to 1991 levels.

The 15-nation euro bought $1.5476, up from the $1.5454 it bought late Thursday in New York.

The British pound bought $1.9479, up from the $1.9451 it bought late Thursday, while the dollar also fell against the Japanese yen, buying 104.75 yen, compared with the 105.26 yen it bought late in New York.

The housing data follows a report Thursday that U.S. industrial production declined.

“The dollar is looking slightly weaker on the back of yesterday's manufacturing data but there hasn't been too significant a slump in the greenback so far,” said James Hughes, an analyst at CMC Markets in London.

Data showed U.S. industrial production dropped 0.7 percent last month, more than double the decline that economists had expected.

Meanwhile in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, data showed that the economy grew by 1.5 percent in the January-March period compared with the previous quarter, its quickest pace in more than a decade.