Investing.com - The dollar was flat while the Aussie slipped on Tuesday. Comments by New York Fed President John Williams received some focus as he said the Federal Reserve “will be likely raising interest rates somewhat.”
His comments came after Richard Clarida, the Fed’s newly appointed vice chair, expressed caution over the global growth outlook last Friday and said "that's something that is going to be relevant" for the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan also said in a separate interview with Fox Business last week that he expected a growth slowdown in Europe and China.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies traded 0.06% higher to 96.2 by 12:42 AM ET (05:42 GMT).
Although not a directional driver, data showed on Monday that the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell eight points to 60 in November. That was the lowest reading since August 2016, though a reading above 50 is still considered positive.
The AUD/USD pair was down 0.3% to 0.7273. Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) November policy meeting on Tuesday showed policy makers expect above-trend growth in 2018 and 2019, supported by interest rates at a record low 1.50%.
Meanwhile, the GBP/USD edged up 0.01% to 1.2857. Investors expect the pound to trade sideways until the market gets more clarity on progress in the Brexit deal.
The USD/CNY pair was unchanged at 6.9433 as the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan reference rate at 6.9280 vs Monday's fix of 6.9245.