Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was mixed to slightly higher against its global counterparts on Tuesday, as market sentiment found support from hopes that Greece was moving close to formally securing a second bailout, while investors eyed the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy setting meeting later in the day.
During European morning trade, the dollar was slightly higher against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.08% to hit 1.3144.
Speaking Monday, the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, said there was “no doubt” that a second bailout for Greece, worth EUR130 billion, would be approved later in the week.
But sentiment on the euro remained fragile as Spain faced calls to make deeper budget cuts in order to prevent the debt crisis in the region from worsening, after the country’s prime minister raised the deficit target earlier this month.
The greenback was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.12% to hit 1.5660.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said earlier that the country’s goods trade deficit widened to a seasonally adjusted GBP7.5 billion in January from a deficit of GBP7.2 billion the previous month.
The greenback was close to an 11-month high against the yen, with USD/JPY adding 0.40% to hit 82.56 and was also up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.11% to hit 0.9174.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged in a range of zero to 0.1%, in a widely expected decision. The central bank left the size of its asset purchase fund unchanged at JPY30 trillion, after unexpectedly boosting the program in February, weakening the yen.
In Switzerland, official data showed that producer price inflation rose more-than-expected in February, climbing 0.8%.
Elsewhere, the greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD shedding 0.26% to hit 0.9898, AUD/USD rising 0.29% to hit 1.0545 and NZD/USD climbing 0.53% to hit 0.8222.
Sentiment on the Australian dollar was dented earlier, after official data showed that home loan approvals fell more-than-expected in January, while a separate report showed that Australian business confidence fell to the lowest level in four months in January.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar found support after official data showed that food price inflation rose more-than-expected in February, while house sales rose sharply.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.13% to hit 80.39.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on retail sales and business inventories. In addition, the Federal Reserve was to announce its benchmark interest rate; the announcement was to be accompanied by the central bank’s rate statement.
Also Tuesday, euro zone finance ministers were to continue talks in Brussels throughout the day.
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