Investing.com - The dollar was steady against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. new home sales fell less than expected in March, while manufacturing activity in the Richmond region rose this month.
USD/JPY was trading at 102.64, not far from the two-week highs of 102.73 reached on Monday.
U.S. existing home sales fell by 0.2% in March, to an annual rate of 4.59 million. It was the weakest rate since July 2012, but came in ahead of expectations for 4.55 million.
A separate report showed that the Richmond Fed manufacturing index jumped to 7 this month, from a reading of minus 7 in March.
The euro gave up gains against the dollar, with EUR/USD trading at 1.3791, off session highs of 1.3825.
Sentiment on the single currency remained fragile after the European Central Bank warned earlier this month that further gains in the euro would trigger additional monetary easing to keep inflation from falling.
Sterling was trading close four-and-a-half year highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD up 0.13% to 1.6813, not far from the peaks of 1.6840 reached last Thursday.
Demand for sterling continued to be underpinned after data last week showing that the U.K. unemployment rate fell to a five year low in the three months to February fuelled expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of England in the first quarter of next year.
The Swiss franc inched lower, with USD/CHF edging up 0.08% to trade at 0.8857.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars extended gains, with AUD/USD climbing 0.36% to 0.9361 and NZD/USD up 0.35% to 0.8599.
Market watchers were looking ahead to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s rate review on Thursday, amid some expectations that the bank could hike rates again this month.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was lower, with USD/CAD climbing 0.21% to 1.1038.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, shrugged off data showing that domestic wholesale sales rose 1.1% in February, the largest increase since July 2013, to C$50.67 billion, ahead of expectations for a 0.7% increase.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.01% to 80.02, up from lows of 79.87.