Investing.com - The dollar was little changed near three-week highs against the euro on Tuesday as the single currency shrugged off an upbeat ZEW report on German economic sentiment and remained lower against the broadly stronger yen. During European late morning trade, the dollar was trading close to three-week highs against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.06% to 1.3342. The euro briefly touched session highs after data showed that German economic sentiment rose to a 34-month high in February. The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment jumped to 48.2 in February, the highest since April 2010, from 31.2 in January, against expectations for a reading of 35.0. But the single currency remained under pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterated Monday that the euro’s exchange rate could affect the bank’s inflation outlook. Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation said the economies of its 34 members contracted 0.2% in the fourth quarter for the first time since the first quarter of 2009. The steepest declines were seen in the European Union where GDP declined by 0.5%. For 2012 as a whole, GDP growth in the OECD stood at 1.3%, down from 1.9% in 2011. The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY falling 0.52% to 93.47. The yen strengthened broadly on Tuesday after Japan’s finance minister said the government is not considering buying foreign bonds through a fund with the Bank of Japan, one day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the idea was one option for monetary easing. The greenback was trading close to seven-month highs against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.12% to 1.5484, as recent weak economic data added to fears over a triple-dip recession and the risk of the U.K. losing its triple-A sovereign rating. Elsewhere, the greenback was hovering near three-week highs against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.11% to 0.9244. The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.22% to 1.0128, AUD/USD up 0.32% to 1.0338 and NZD/USD slipping 0.14% to 0.8441. The Australian dollar was higher after the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s February 5 meeting indicated that the bank would wait to assess the impact of recent rate cuts before deciding to cut rates again. The RBA said that while the inflation outlook left scope to ease policy further, it would need to see clear indications of a slowdown in the economy. The New Zealand dollar rebounded from session lows after dropping earlier following reports that China’s quarantine administration had destroyed milk powder imports from New Zealand. Fonterra Group, the Auckland based dairy product exporter, said none of its products were destroyed by the Chinese authorities. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.01% to 80.72.

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