Investing.com - The dollar moved higher against the other major currencies on Tuesday, amid growing concerns over China's economy and despite uncertainty over a potential U.S. rate hike this year as investors eyed upcoming U.S. consumer sentiment data.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 119.96.
Concerns over China’s economic woes escalated after data on Monday showed that Chinese industrial profits fell 8.8% in August from a year earlier. It was the largest decline in four years.
Market participants were looking ahead to data on China’s factory sector on Wednesday for further indications on the health of the world’s second-largest economy.
Sentiment on the dollar was also vulnerable amid uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will raise short term interest rates this year following mixed messages from central bank policymakers.
New York Fed President William Dudley and San Francisco Fed head John Williams indicated support for a rate hike in 2015 in separate speeches on Monday, but Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said rates should remain on hold until mid-2016.
The remarks came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that the bank was still on track for a rate hike before the years end.
The dollar pushed higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.40% at 1.1198.
The single currency came under pressure after data showed that Germany's annual rate of inflation slowed to zero in September, worse than forecasts of 0.1%.
The German consumer price index fell 0.2% from a month earlier, compared to expectations for a decline of 0.1%.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.14% at 1.5153, and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9740.
Data earlier showed that U.K. net lending to individuals rose to £4.3 billion last month from £4.0 billion in July, whose figure was upwardly revised from an initially estimated £3.9 billion. Analysts had expected net lending to individuals to rise to £4.1 billion in August.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars turned higher, with AUD/USD up 0.08% to 0.6996 and with NZD/USD gaining 0.39% to 0.6352.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.3403, close to an 11-year high of 1.3432 hit earlier in the day.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.24% at 96.36.