Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against a basket of other major currencies on Tuesday, holding below the highs hit in the wake of last week’s stronger than forecast U.S. jobs report for June.
EUR/USD edged down to 1.3593, not far from Monday’s lows of 1.3575.
The dollar strengthened broadly after a strong U.S. jobs report late last week sparked speculation that the Federal Reserve could bring forward its timetable for raising interest rates.
The U.S. economy added a larger-than-forecast 288,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1%, the lowest in almost six years.
But the dollar’s gains against the other major currencies paused on Tuesday due to the belief that the Fed will stick to its dovish stance on monetary policy amid concerns over ongoing slow growth in inflation and wages. Investors were looking ahead to Wednesday's minutes of the Fed's June meeting for further indications on its monetary policy stance.
The euro remained under pressure after German trade data on Tuesday showed that both imports and exports fell in May, adding to concerns over the outlook for the broader euro zone economy.
GBP/USD was at 1.7118 after falling to lows of 1.7086 earlier when data showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. declined at the fastest rate in 16 months in May.
The data dampened optimism over the outlook for the U.K. economic recovery, but was unlikely to alter expectations that the Bank of England could raise interest rates before the end of this year.
Elsewhere, the dollar drifted lower against the Japanese currency, with USD/JPY slipping 0.13% to 101.72, off last Thursday’s two-week highs of 102.25, while USD/CHF was at 0.8943.
NZD/USD touched three year highs of 0.8806 on Tuesday before easing back to 0.8778. The kiwi was boosted after ratings agency Fitch raised New Zealand’s credit outlook to positive from stable.
Elsewhere, AUD/USD was up 0.29% to 0.9398, while USD/CAD dipped 0.07% to 1.0675.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was at 80.33 not far from Monday’s highs of 80.36.