Investing.com - The euro fell to fresh session lows against the dollar on Tuesday amid fears that the crisis in Ukraine could escalate, following reports that armed gunmen stormed a Ukrainian military base in Simferopol.
EUR/USD hit session lows of 1.3880 and was last down 0.24% to 1.3888.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3850 and resistance at 1.3941, the session high.
The euro extended losses after CNN reported that Vladislav Seleznyov, Ukraine's defense ministry spokesman said at least one Ukrainian officer had been injured in an assault on a base by "armed people in masks" near the Crimean capital of Simferopol.
Earlier Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia isn't seeking "a partition of Ukraine", signaling that Russia's moves in Ukraine would be limited.
The comments came during a speech to a joint session of parliament in Moscow, a day after the president recognized the results of Sunday's referendum in Crimea, which saw a majority of voters chose to split from Ukraine.
The European Union and the U.S. have declared the vote illegal and imposed sanctions.
The euro slipped against the dollar earlier Tuesday after a report showed that German economic expectations deteriorated in March, as concerns over the crisis in Ukraine weighed.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research reported that its index of German economic sentiment fell to 46.6 this month from February’s reading of 55.7. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 53.0.
In the U.S., data on Tuesday showed that the annual rate of inflation in the U.S. slowed to 1.1% in February from 1.6% in January. Analysts had expected the annual inflation rate to decline to 1.2%.
U.S. consumer prices edged up 0.1% in February from a month earlier, in line with forecasts.
Separately, the Commerce Department reported that the number of building permits issued in the U.S. rose to a four-month high in February, rebounding after a sharp drop in January.
The number of building permits issued last month jumped 7.7% to 1.018 million units following a 16.8% fall in in January, as a result of severe winter weather.
But U.S. housing starts slipped 0.2% last month to hit a seasonally adjusted 907,000 units, disappointing expectations for an increase of 3.4% to 910,000 units.
The euro fell to session lows against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.56% to 140.85.
Elsewhere, the dollar was trading close to session lows against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.32% to 101.42, holding above last Friday’s trough of 101.19.