By Saumya Vaishampayan, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar recovered its loss against
the euro Tuesday after a better-than-expected reading on the U.S.
housing market, but currency moves remained limited on a lack of
major news.
U.S. existing-home sales fell 0.2% last month to an annual rate
of 4.59 million. Economists had expected an annual rate of 4.55
million, according to a MarketWatch poll. Separately, home prices
rose 0.6% in February and gained 6.9% from a year earlier, the
Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday.
The euro (EURUSD) was at $1.3794 versus $1.3793 late Monday,
down from an intraday high of $1.3825. Euro-zone PMI data are due
Wednesday.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. is preparing
another round of economic sanctions against Russia unless it pulls
back from the Ukrainian border. "What is noteworthy is how
complacent markets are to geopolitical risk," said Camilla Sutton,
chief foreign-exchange strategist at Scotiabank, in a note.
The ICE dollar index (DXY), which pits the dollar against six
rivals, was at 79.966 versus 79.957 late Monday. The WSJ Dollar
Index , which measures the greenback against a broader basket of
rivals, was flat at 73.10.
There are no Federal Reserve speeches scheduled this week.
The dollar (USDJPY) inched up to Yen102.65 from Yen102.60 late
Monday.
The Australian dollar (AUDUSD) rose to 93.64 U.S. cents from
93.33 U.S. cents late Monday, hovering below its high for the year.
Investors paid attention to comments from Australian Treasurer Joe
Hockey about how the central bank's switch to a more neutral stance
on monetary policy could exert upward pressure on the Australian
dollar, will make it more difficult to manage the economy,
according to the Australian Financial Review.
First-quarter inflation data for Australia are due Wednesday
local time.
The British pound (GBPUSD) increased to $1.6815 from $1.6802
late Monday.
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