By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The dollar lost ground against most rivals in Asian trading hours on Tuesday, ahead of the start of a two-day policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.10% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded at 79.346, down from 79.406 in late North American trading Monday.
“The main event this week — the Federal Open Market Committee meeting/Ben Bernanke press conference — kicks off today and concludes tomorrow, which may overshadow [other] releases,” Michael Turner, strategist at RBC Capital Markets, said Tuesday.
The dollar had gained ground on Monday, with economic data and political developments raising more questions about Europe’s ability to tackle its debt problems.
But Tuesday, the euro EURUSD +0.09% moved back up against the dollar, trading at $1.3154, from $1.3149.
“There is a (merciful) respite from data today after yesterday’s soft [European and Chinese economic data], although there are several appearances by policy makers scheduled,” said Turner.
The British pound GBPUSD -0.05% traded at $1.6120, down fractionally from $1.6127.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar USDJPY -0.29% bought ¥80.90, down from ¥81.14 in late trading on Monday.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD -0.46% dropped to $1.0262, down from $1.0322 just before the release of much-weaker-than-expected first-quarter consumer price data that appeared to seal the case for an interest-rate cut next month. Read more on Australian CPI.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
