Investing.com - The euro slid to two-week lows against the firmer dollar on Tuesday after comments by some Federal Reserve officials overnight indicated that a U.S. rate hike is still on the cards this year.
EUR/USD eased 0.17% to 1.1172, the lowest level since September 9.
The dollar was boosted after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart indicated in separate remarks that the U.S. central bank is still likely to raise short-term interest rates this year.
Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in the week for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.15 after rising 0.66% on Monday.
The euro remained on the back foot amid concerns that the European Central Bank could expand its trillion-euro monetary stimulus program after it cut its forecasts for growth and inflation earlier this month.
Over the weekend, ECB Chief Economist Peter Praet reiterated that it is prepared to scale up monetary stimulus if necessary to combat risks from global economic turbulence.
Investors were looking ahead to Chinese manufacturing data on Wednesday, as well as surveys of the euro zone private sector for fresh indications on the condition of the global economy.
The euro was also at two-week lows against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.4% to 134.34.