Investing.com - The dollar remained higher against a basket of other major currencies on Tuesday as markets looked ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the day.
EUR/USD eased 0.07% to 1.1327 from 1.1333 late Monday.
The single currency shrugged off official data showing that euro zone consumer price inflation fell 0.6% last month, in line with expectations and unchanged from a preliminary estimate. Euro zone inflation declined by 0.2% in December.
The rate remains firmly below the European Central Bank's target of near but just below 2%.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs rose 0.6% in January, meeting forecasts and unchanged from an initial estimate.
Earlier Tuesday Greece delivered a list of proposed economic reforms to Brussels after missing Monday’s midnight deadline. The reforms must now be approved by the country’s lenders in order for Greece to secure a four-month bailout extension.
Market participants were looking ahead to testimony by Fed Chair Janet Yellen before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington later in the day for any indication on when U.S. interest rates may start to rise.
Last week’s minutes of the Fed’s January meeting were more dovish than expected, showing that some officials thought that raising rates too soon could weigh on the U.S. economic recovery, and that a deterioration in the global economic outlook could also pose a threat.
The dollar gained ground against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.60% to 119.52, while USD/CHF was little changed near five-week highs at 0.9496.
In other trade, GBP/USD slipped 0.23% to 1.5420. Sterling remained supported after Bank of England policymaker Martin Weale said earlier that the central bank could start raising interest rates sooner than markets anticipate.
The New Zealand dollar was sharply lower, with NZD/USD tumbling 1.05% to 0.7447, while AUD/USD dropped 0.55% at 0.7760.
The Canadian dollar was also weaker, with USD/CAD advancing 0.46% to 1.2631 after recent weak economic reports were seen as increasing the likelihood of another rate cut by Canada’s central bank.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.15% to 94.81.