U.S. Dollar Rises As Traders Await FOMC Minutes

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar firmed against other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, as traders await the FOMC minutes due to be published on Wednesday is likely to offer some hints about further monetary policy.

Markets speculate the Federal Reserve is likely to ease its monetary policy by 25 basis points in 2024 as early as June.

The investor sentiment subdued after China hold steady key interest rate as expected, even though the nation continues to grapple with a sluggish economic recovery. The lack of major stimulus measures in China is weighing on the markets.

Crude oil prices traded lower, as demand concerns triggered by the recent spike in producer price inflation in the U.S. weighed on market sentiment. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures for April settlement also declined 0.27 percent from the previous close of $78.46 to trade at $78.25.

In the Asian trading now, the U.S. dollar rose to 4-day highs of 1.2580 against the pound, 0.8834 against the Swiss franc and 150.37 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.2593, 0.8821 and 150.11, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.24 against the pound, 0.89 against the franc and 151.00 against the yen.

Against the Australia and the Canadian dollars, the greenback advanced to a 4-day high of 0.6521 and a 5-day high of 1.3511 from Monday's closing quotes of 0.6537 and 1.3488, respectively. The greenback may test resistance around 0.64 against the aussie and 1.36 against the loonie.

The greenback edged up to 1.0762 against the euro and 0.6129 against the NZ dollar from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0777 and 0.6147, respectively. On the upside, 1.06 against the euro and 0.60 against the kiwi are seen as the next resistance levels for the greenback.

Looking ahead, Switzerland foreign trade data for January is due to be released at 2:00 am ET in the pre-European session.

In the European session, Eurozone current account data and construction output, for December, are slated for release.

At 5:15 am ET, the Bank of England policymakers Andrew Bailey, Ben Broadbent, Megan Greene, Swati Dhingra are set to attend the Treasury Select Hearing on the February monetary policy report.

In the New York session, Canada CPI data for January and U.S. CB leading index for January are set to be published.