Investing.com - The dollar was broadly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Tuesday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. data later in the day and expectations for a U.S. rate hike in the coming months continued to support.
Demand for the dollar remained supported by expectations for higher interest rates, as investors regained confidence that the U.S. economy would continue to recover after recent economic reports pointed to a slowdown at the start of the year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.11% to 99.85.
EUR/USD slipped 0.09% to 1.0557, not far from Monday's one-month lows of 1.0519.
Markets shrugged off data showing that the euro zone's industrial production increased 1.1% in February, easily surpassing forecasts for a gain of 0.4% and after a decline of 0.3% in January.
Year-on-year, industrial production rose at a rate of 1.6% in February from a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 0.7% increase and after rising 0.4% the previous month.
The single currency has weakened broadly so far this year after the European Central Bank unveiled a trillion-euro quantitative easing program in January. The bank started asset purchases last month, pushing euro area bond yields to new lows.
Sentiment on the euro was also hit as uncertainty over Greece’s bailout negotiations with its creditors continued to weigh.
The pound was also lower, with GBP/USD sliding 0.35% to 1.4625 after the Office of National Statistics reported that the annual rate of U.K. consumer inflation remained unchanged at a record low zero in March, unchanged from the previous month and in line with forecasts.
The ONS said that March’s consumer prices index actually dropped by 0.01%, which it rounded up to zero.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, slowed to an almost nine-year low of 1.0% last month from 1.2% in February. Economists had expected underlying inflation to remain unchanged.
The Bank of England targets inflation of 2% but the recent slowdown in inflation is unlikely to prompt a monetary policy response.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY shedding 0.37% to 119.67 and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9784.
The Australian and New Zealand were weaker, with AUD/USD slipping 0.26% to 0.7569 and NZD/USD down 0.12% to 0.7445.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.2591.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on retail sales and producer prices.