Investing.com - The dollar erased gains against the other major currencies on Tuesday, despite the release of positive U.S. economic reports, but the greenback still continued to trade close to a three-week high.
USD/JPY steady at 108.96, after hitting highs of 109.65 earlier in the session.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices rose 0.4% in April, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain and after an increase of 0.1% in March. Year-over-year, consumer prices were 1.1% higher last month.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, increased as expected in April by 0.2%.
A separate report showed that U.S. housing starts rose 6.6% to 1.172 million units in April, compared to expectations for an increase to 1.127 million units.
Building permits rose 3.6% to a 1.116 million units last month, compared to expectations for a 4.3% increase.
Data also showed that U.S. industrial production increased by 0.7% last month, its largest gain since November 2014 and better than expectations for a gain of 0.3%.
EUR/USD edged up 0.16% to 1.1339, off lows of 1.1302.
The euro found support amid reports euro zone finance ministers will seek to strike a deal with Greece next Tuesday on a package of contingency steps to ensure Athens will meet future fiscal targets.
The dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.38% at 1.4457 and with USD/CHF shedding 0.23% to 0.9756.
Sterling pared earlier gains after the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that the consumer price index rose by an annualized 0.3% in in April, slowing from 0.5% in March.
Consumer prices rose just 0.1% from a month earlier in April, slowing sharply from 0.4% in March.
Core inflation, which strips out changes in the price of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, fell to 1.2%, falling short of economists' expectations for 1.4%.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD up 0.66% at 0.7336 and with NZD/USD climbing 0.50% to 0.6823.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD added 0.13% to trade at 1.2912 after Statistics Canada said that manufacturing sales declined by 0.9% in March, compared to expectations for a 1.8% drop.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.19% at 94.35, off session highs of 94.69 but still near Friday’s three-week high of 94.84.