Investing.com - The dollar extended Monday's gains against most major world currencies in Asian trading on Tuesday, mainly as a stalemate carried on in Greece, stoking fears Athens is teetering closer to abandoning the euro.
In Asian trading on Tuesday, EUR/USD was trading down 0.02% at 1.2820.
In Greece, political parties remain unable to agree on a coalition government, with left-wing parties refusing to negotiate with their centrist counterparts due to staunch opposition to austerity measures demanded of the country by multilateral lenders.
A continued stalemate could force new elections in June, and fears have been growing that such an event ups the chances of Greece exiting the currency bloc, putting pressure on Spain and Portugal to follow suit.
Meanwhile in Spain, nervous investors demanded Madrid to pay up in government auctions, with the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds soaring to 6.27%, the highest level since December of last year.
The embattled currency took another blow to the chin on news eurozone industrial output dropped 0.3% in March, much worse than expectations for a 0.4% increase.
Shaky European headlines prompted the global risk-off trading session that buoyed the greenback, which was flat against the pound, with GBP/USD trading at 1.6092.
The U.S. currency was up slightly against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.01% at 79.86, and flat against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading at 0.9368.
The dollar was mixed against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.02% at 1.0035, AUD/USD down 0.02% at 0.9955 and NZD/USD down 0.09% at 0.7759.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.05% at 80.83.
Later Tuesday in the U.S., retail sales and inflation figures are due out.
Reports on manufacturing activity in New York, as well as U.S. net long-term securities transactions and business inventories are also due to hit the wire.
In Asian trading on Tuesday, EUR/USD was trading down 0.02% at 1.2820.
In Greece, political parties remain unable to agree on a coalition government, with left-wing parties refusing to negotiate with their centrist counterparts due to staunch opposition to austerity measures demanded of the country by multilateral lenders.
A continued stalemate could force new elections in June, and fears have been growing that such an event ups the chances of Greece exiting the currency bloc, putting pressure on Spain and Portugal to follow suit.
Meanwhile in Spain, nervous investors demanded Madrid to pay up in government auctions, with the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds soaring to 6.27%, the highest level since December of last year.
The embattled currency took another blow to the chin on news eurozone industrial output dropped 0.3% in March, much worse than expectations for a 0.4% increase.
Shaky European headlines prompted the global risk-off trading session that buoyed the greenback, which was flat against the pound, with GBP/USD trading at 1.6092.
The U.S. currency was up slightly against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.01% at 79.86, and flat against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading at 0.9368.
The dollar was mixed against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.02% at 1.0035, AUD/USD down 0.02% at 0.9955 and NZD/USD down 0.09% at 0.7759.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.05% at 80.83.
Later Tuesday in the U.S., retail sales and inflation figures are due out.
Reports on manufacturing activity in New York, as well as U.S. net long-term securities transactions and business inventories are also due to hit the wire.