Investing.com - The dollar remained lower against the yen on Tuesday, after U.S. economic reports indicated that the recovery remained sluggish, while the kiwi rallied to 10-month highs after as tensions over Ukraine eased.
USD/JPY touched session lows of 101.32, and was last down 0.34% to 101.40.
Data on Tuesday showed that the annual rate of inflation in the U.S. slowed to 1.1% in February from 1.6% in January.
U.S. consumer prices edged up 0.1% in February from a month earlier, in line with forecasts.
Separately, the Commerce Department reported that the number of building permits issued in the U.S. rose to a four-month high in February, rebounding after a sharp drop in January, but housing starts slipped.
Overall market sentiment improved after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia isn't seeking a partition of Ukraine. The comments came as the president signed a bill to absorb the Crimea region into Russia, following a referendum on Sunday.
The European Union and the U.S. have declared the vote illegal and imposed sanctions.
EUR/USD edged down 0.07% to 1.3913, holding below last week’s two-and-a-half year peaks of 1.3966.
The pair briefly fell to session lows of 1.3880 earlier Tuesday after a report showed that German economic expectations deteriorated in March, as concerns over the crisis in Ukraine weighed.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research reported that its index of German economic sentiment fell to 46.6 this month from February’s reading of 55.7. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 53.0.
Elsewhere, USD/CHF was up 0.13% to 0.8742, extending a pullback from last week’s two-and-a-half year lows of 0.8699.
The dollar rose to five-week highs against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.38% to 1.6572.
The Australian dollar climbed to three-month highs, with AUD/USD rising 0.50% to 0.9131. Earlier Tuesday, the minutes of the Reserve Bank’s March policy meeting expressed concerns over the impact of the strong Aussie on economic growth. However, the minutes also reinforced the view that further rate cuts are not on the cards.
The New Zealand dollar rose to 10-month highs against the greenback, with NZD/USD advancing 0.78% to 0.8632.
The greenback gained ground against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD up 0.30% to 1.1084. The pair briefly touched session lows of 1.1026 earlier after data showed that Canadian manufacturing sales rose more-than-forecast in January.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.08% to 79.56.