Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as the greenback remained mildly supported after data showed that a slowdown in China’s fourth-quarter growth matched expectations and the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast.
USD/JPY gained 0.49% to 117.92, off overnight lows of 117.22 and Friday’s four-and-a-half month trough of 116.50.
Official figures showed that the annual rate of growth in China’s economy slowed to 6.8% in the three months to December from 6.9% in the previous quarter, matching forecasts.
Full-year growth was 6.9%, slightly below the government’s target of 7% and the slowest rate of growth in a quarter century.
Overall the data indicated that the world’s second-largest economy is continuing to lose momentum, after falls in the nation’s currency earlier this year fueled fears over a China-led slowdown in global growth.
The reports came shortly before the IMF cut its global growth forecast to 3.4% for this year and 3.6% in 2017.
EUR/USD edged up 0.08% to trade at 1.0901, off lows of 1.0860 hit earlier in the day.
Also Tuesday, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment declined by 5.9 points to 10.2 this month from December’s reading of 16.1. Analysts had expected the index to fall by 7.9 points to 8.2 in January.
A separate report confirmed that the annual rate of inflation in the euro area came in at 0.2% in December, in line with forecasts. On a month-over-month basis consumer prices were flat.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.68% at fresh five-year lows of 1.4148, and was lower gainst the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.12% to 1.0042.
The pound weakened after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that he did not have a "set timetable" for raising interest rates and wanted to see faster growth and stronger underlying inflation first.
Sterling had strengthened earlier, after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the consumer price index rose 0.1% in December from a month earlier, matching forecasts.
The annual rate of inflation rose 0.2%, ahead of forecasts of 0.1% and the highest since January 2015.
Meanwhile, the ongoing oil rout continued to weigh on the commodity-related Canadian dollar. USD/CAD was down 0.42% at 1.4501, but remained within close distance of a nearly 13-year high of 1.4653 hit overnight.
The Australian dollar remained higher, with AUD/USD up 0.92% at 0.6834, while NZD/USD advanced 0.60% to trade at 0.6491.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 99.23, the highest level since January 6.