Investing.com - The dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to congressional testimony on monetary policy by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.
During European late morning trade, the dollar was close to session lows against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.29% to 1.3100.
The single currency shrugged off data showing that the ZEW index of economic sentiment in Germany deteriorated unexpectedly in July.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment fell to 36.3 in the current month from 38.5 in June. Analysts had expected a reading of 39.6.
A separate report showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone held steady at a seasonally adjusted 1.6% in June, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations.
Investors were anticipating Bernanke’s testimony on Wednesday, amid speculation over the timing of a possible reduction to the bank’s USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program.
The dollar fell sharply last week after Bernanke said the U.S. economy still needed monetary stimulus.
Elsewhere, the dollar was fractionally higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.06% to 1.5090.
Sterling fell to session lows against the greenback earlier after official data showed that consumer price inflation in the U.K. rose slightly less-than-expected in June.
The Office for National Statistics said U.K. consumer price inflation rose 2.9% from a year earlier in June, coming in below expectations for a 3.0% increase and up from 2.7% in May.
The dollar was weaker against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY down 0.29% to 99.55 and USD/CHF falling 0.37% to 0.9446.
The greenback was broadly lower against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD rallying 1.35% to 0.9219, NZD/USD up 0.85% to 0.7873 and USD/CAD dipping 0.03% to 1.0425.
The Australian dollar was boosted after the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s July meeting said that the recent weakness in the Australian dollar would push inflation slightly higher.
In New Zealand, official data on Tuesday showed that consumer price inflation rose 0.2% in the second quarter, less than the expected 0.3% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.30% to 82.94.
The U.S. was to release official data on consumer price inflation and a report on industrial production later in the trading day.
