Investing.com - The dollar edged higher in Asia on Tuesday with inflation in New Zealand missing estimates and sending the kiwi down and China house prices ahead in focus.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.02% to 94.92. NZD /USD traded at 0.7272, down 0.61%, while USD/JPY rose 0.03% to 112.65.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7792, down 0.13%.
In New Zealand, CPI was flat on quarter in the second quarter, missing the 0.2% rise seen and at a 1.7% annual pace, less than the 1.9% increases expected. Ahead the RBA meeting minutes of its July deliberation are due at which it held steady at a record low 1.50% and house prices from China for June are expected to show a 10.4% gain
Overnight, the dollar hovered above ten-month lows as investors doubted whether the Federal Reserve would hike interest rates again this year in the wake of recent economic data pointing to a sustained slowdown in the pace of inflation.
The dollar turned positive in the U.S. session but remained under pressure amid bearish sentiment as manufacturing data undershot forecasts while weaker-than-expected inflation data released last week signalled that the Federal Reserve may struggle to justify an increase rate increase later this year.
The Empire State manufacturing index dropped from 19.8 to 9.8 in July, missing expectations for a more modest decline to 15.
A drop in sterling, however, underpinned a recovery in the greenback, with GBP/USD down 0.31% to $1.3060, after the second round of Brexit negotiations got underway.
Both British secretary David Davis and EU negotiator Michel Barnier said they would provide update on negotiation proceedings on Thursday, after their teams have spent four days tackling a range of priority issues.