Investing.com -- EUR/USD fell mildly on Tuesday reversing some of its gains from the previous session, as investors focused on the timing of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve and the start of a new series of discussions related to the Greek bailout.
The currency pair traded in a tight range between 1.1022 and 1.11 on Tuesday, before settling at 1.1056, down 0.0030 or 0.27%. After falling to nearly 1.08 against its American counterpart in the middle of the month, the euro has rallied by more than 2% versus the dollar over the last week and a half.
EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.0808 the low from July 20 and was met with resistance at 1.1129, the high from July 27.
In Washington, the Federal Open Market Committee started its two-day July meeting days after the Fed announced that it inadvertently published a staff forecast on its website which disclosed that staff economists anticipate a quarter-point rate hike at some point this year. Last week, Federal St. Louis president James Bullard said there is a 50% chance the Fed will raise rates at its FOMC meeting in September. Nearly a decade has passed since the U.S. central bank last lifted its benchmark Federal Funds Rate. Short-term interest rates, meanwhile, have remained level between zero and 0.25% since the end of the Financial Crisis.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose to an intraday high of 97.08 before falling back slightly to 96.75, up 0.15%. The dollar pared some of its gains amid weak consumer sentiment, after The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 90.9 for July from 99.8 a month earlier.
In Athens, security tightened throughout the city ahead of the arrival of a troika of Greece's international creditors for the latest round of talks on a comprehensive three-year bailout. The creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are expected to complete technical work on bailout discussions by Friday, officials from the Greece Finance ministry said. Greece government officials said last week they were hopeful that a deal on a proposed €86 billion bailout through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) could be completed by late-August.
Yields on U.S. 10-Year Treasuries gained three basis points to 2.25%, while yields on Germany 10-Year bunds stayed flat at 0.69%.