NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell against most major currencies on Friday amid disappointing U.S. retail sales and profit taking.

    The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in August, much weaker than the expected 0.3 percent rise. Excluding auto industry, core retail sales fell 0.7 percentin August.

    Retail sales in July fell by 0.5 percent, the worst in five months and weaker than first reported.

    The disappointing retail sales outweighed a positive report showing that wholesale prices fell 0.9 percent in August, nearly double the 0.5 percent decline that economists had been expecting.  

    Profit taking activities also sent the greenback down. But analysts said the dollar would remain safe haven and keep its rising trend in the near future amid slowing economic growth outside the United States.

    The euro bought 1.4215 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3951 dollars it bought late Thursday. The British pound rose to 1.7937 dollars from 1.7528 dollars.

    The dollar fell to 1.1319 Swiss francs from 1.1393 Swiss francs,and rose to 107.76 Japanese yen from 106.73 Japanese yen. It fell to 1.0606 Canadian dollars from 1.0779 Canadian dollars