Investing.com - The dollar pared losses against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of upbeat U.S. home sales data, although uncertainty over the timing of a U.S. rate hike continued to weigh.
The U.S. National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose 6.1% last month to 5.19 million units from a revised total units of 4.89 million. Analysts had expected existing home sales to rise 3.0% in March.
The dollar's gains were capped however, as investors pushed back expectations for higher U.S. interest rates after a recent streak of soft economic data dampened optimism on the country's recovery.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.10% to 98.11.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.0742, pulling away from session highs of 1.0799.
The euro remained under pressure as the Greek government was no closer to reaching an agreement with its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund over economic reforms required to access remaining bailout funds, fuelling fears that the country could be forced out of the euro zone.
On Tuesday Bloomberg reported that the European Central Bank is considering tighter rules on Greek banks in return for emergency liquidity, adding to pressure on Athens.
The pound was higher, with GBP/USD advancing 0.75% to 1.5041.
Sterling found support after the minutes of the Bank of England's latest monetary policy meeting showed that policymakers voted nine to zero in favor of keeping rates unchanged at a record low 0.5%, but the decision remained "finely balanced" for two officials.
The central bank said it still expects that inflation could turn negative in the next couple of months, having been flat in February and March.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 119.74 and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF climbing 0.86% to 0.9633.
The Australian dollar trimmed gains, with AUD/USD at 0.7767, still up 0.74% for the day. The Aussie strengthened after data earlier showed that consumer prices rose 0.2% in the first quarter, in line with expectations and after a 0.2% uptick in the three months to December.
Year-on-year, Australian consumer prices rose 1.3% in the three months to March, in line with market expectations and after an increase of 1.7% in the last quarter of 2014.
Meanwhile, NZD/USD held steady at 0.7678 and USD/CAD declined 0.40% to trade at 1.2233.