The dollar began a week full of big economic data on a firm footing, with investors wary of the Federal Reserve beginning its exit from super-supportive policy even as cases of the coronavirus surge.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.856 against an earlier low of 92.611.
The greenback closed out its best week in three weeks on Friday, gaining about 0.6% on the euro as it benefited both from safety flows and the policy outlook lifting yields on U.S. Treasuries.
It maintained gains early in the Asia session to hold the common currency at $1.1810. It was also steady at 109.91 Japanese yen, while its strength has for now stymied rallies in the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
U.S. consumer price data on Tuesday is expected to show core inflation easing slightly to 4.2%.
However, with Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, in a Nikkei interview on Monday, joining a chorus of policymakers keen to begin scaling back asset purchases, bond traders seem to think a slowdown won’t be enough to delay tapering much.
Ten-year Treasuries were sold for a third straight week last week - the longest streak since yields lurched higher in February and March — lifting the 10-year yield to 1.3462%.
Also ahead on the calendar are Chinese economic data, likely to highlight wobbly retail sales on Wednesday and further add to concerns about the world’s second biggest economy.
The yuan was steady at 6.4424 per dollar in offshore trade. Elsewhere, sterling held at $1.3834 and cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ether were broadly steady, with bitcoin at about $46,000.
Thai
Eng