Investing.com - The dollar was steady to lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as markets were jittery ahead of further comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, as well as a number of U.S. economic reports due later in the day.
The dollar was little changed against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.03% to 1.3643.
The euro remained under pressure after ECB President Draghi on Monday said the bank saw a risk of a deflationary cycle taking hold in the euro zone.
Draghi said the ECB is ready to act should it see signs of a negative inflation spiral taking hold, and indicated that the bank is weighing a wide range of policy options, including interest rate cuts, and liquidity injections or broad-based asset purchases to help shore up the fragile recovery in the euro area.
The comments were made at the new ECB annual conference in Sintra, Portugal.
The pound was little changed against the dollar, with GBP/USD down 0.01% to 1.6843.
Industry data earlier showed that U.K. mortgage approvals rose by 42,200 last month, compared to expectations for a 45,200 increase. Mortgage approvals in March were revised down to a 45,000 rise from a previously estimated 45,900 increase.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY easing 0.06% to 101.87 and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF adding 0.12% to 0.8956.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that Switzerland's trade surplus widened to 2.425 billion Swiss francs last month, from 1.996 billion Swiss francs in March, whose figure was revised down from a previously estimated surplus of 2.050 billion Swiss francs.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to 2.052 billion Swiss francs in April.
A separate report showed that the number of employed people in Switzerland remained unchanged at 4.190 million in the first quarter, confounding expectations for a rise to 4.210 million.
The greenback was steady to lower against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD rising 0.29% to 0.9263, NZD/USD up 0.06% to 0.8555 and USD/CAD slipping 0.20% to 1.0837.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.03% to 80.32.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on durable goods orders, house price inflation and consumer confidence.