Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after the release of downbeat U.S. data as investors returned their attention to the Federal Reserve’s policy statement on Wednesday.
The U.S. Commerce Department earlier reported that retail sales fell 0.1% last month, better than expectations for a decline of 0.2%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, declined by 0.1% in February, compared to forecasts for a fall of 0.2%.
A separate report showed that the U.S. producer price index fell 0.2% last month, in line with the forecasts. Year-over-year, producer prices were flat, compared to expectations for a 0.1% increase.
Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was also flat in February, below forecasts for a gain of 0.1%.
At the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index improved to 0.6 this month from a reading of -16.6 in February. Analysts had expected the index to rise to -10.0 in March.
USD/JPY retreated 0.76% to 112.97.
The yen was boosted after the Bank of Japan made no change to monetary policy, in a widely anticipated decision, as it assesses the economic impact of its decision in January to deploy negative interest rates.
The BoJ maintained its ¥80 trillion base money target and a 0.1% negative interest rate it applies to some reserves.
But the bank also flagged weakness in exports and output due to slowing growth in emerging economies, indicating that more stimulus may be needed in the future.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.1103.
The dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.95% at 1.4164 and was little changed against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9866.
Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.77% at 0.7456 and with NZD/USD tumbling 1.14% to 0.6600.
In the minutes of its March policy meeting released earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that low inflation means the central bank isn’t ruling out further interest rate cuts but the adoption of negative interest rates by other central banks is creating uncertainty.
The minutes also showed that policymakers spent part of the meeting discussing China’s “longer-run economic performance and risks to growth” in Australia’s biggest trading partner.
USD/CAD advanced 0.87% to 1.3376.
The commodity-related loonie remained under pressure as oil prices pulled back from three-month highs on Monday after Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said his country won't join a group production freeze until it doubles its post-sanctions output.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.63.