(RTTNews) - The dollar continued to firm up versus the euro and sterling Tuesday morning, improving from 8-month lows ahead of the release of the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates.
Still, the buck failed to rally from a 15-year low versus the yen, and hovered near last week's record low against the Swiss franc.
The minutes of the recent FOMC meeting held on September 21 slated for release at 2.00 p.m. E.T. The language and the outlook of the Federal Reserve will be closely watched given expectations for quantitative easing measures in November.
Conflicting signals from Fed officials over the last few days have hinted that further asset purchases are being hotly debated on the FOMC.
The dollar was stuck near Y81.90 versus the yen, as Japan's consumer confidence weakened for a third consecutive month in September. Overall consumer sentiment fell to 41.4 in September from 42.5 in August, data showed Tuesday. A reading below 50 suggests pessimists outnumber optimists.
Deflation concerns continue to plague the Japanese economy, and efforts to drive down the value of the yen have so far flopped.
In other economic news from overseas, UK annual inflation held steady as widely expected in September. Consumer price annual inflation was 3.1% in September, unchanged from August, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.
Versus the sterling, the dollar advanced to 1.5793 before leveling off.
The buck rose to 1.3790 versus the euro, up another penny from last week's 8-month low of 1.4025
The Dow futures are pointing to a lower open on Wall Street. Earnings season ramps up today, as tech bellwether Intel reports after the closing bell.
