The dollar was steady at 107.93 yen, not too far from a 17-month low of 107.63 struck on Monday. The dollar index stood at 93.966, hovering near an eight-month trough of 93.748 plumbed overnight.
The U.S. currency has been on the back foot since Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen last month doused expectations for hikes in U.S. interest rates anytime soon.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Robert Kaplan said he doesn't back an interest-rate increase this month (April) in light of a puzzling weakening of economic growth, though a June tightening by the US central bank remains a possibility.
"It is worth in this environment being patient and basically being willing to be cautious and let events unfold," Mr Kaplan told reporters after a speech on Monday (April 11) in Ruston, Louisiana. "We'll know soon enough. We are not going to know by April. There is time for us to make these assessments over the next few months and we will.”
President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen discussed risks to the economy and progress from Wall Street reform during a rare meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, the White House said.
"They discussed both the near and long-term growth outlook, the state of the labor market, inequality, and potential risks to the economy, both in the United States and globally," the White House said in a statement about the meeting.
The World Bank trimmed its 2016 and 2017 economic growth forecasts for developing East Asia and Pacific, and said the outlook was clouded by risks such as uncertainty over China's growth prospects, financial market volatility and further falls in commodity prices.
The Washington-based lender now expects the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to grow 6.3% in 2016 and 6.2% in 2017, slowing from 6.5% growth in 2015.
Its previous forecast in October was 6.4% growth in 2016 and 6.3% in 2017. Growth in Thailand was seen at 2.5% in 2016 and 2.6% in 2017, down from 2.8% in 2015, with weaker external demand and policy uncertainty likely to weigh on private investment.
Oil prices dipped in early Asian trade on Tuesday, but both U.S. and international crude futures held above $40 per barrel ahead of a meeting of major producers to discuss freezing output levels to rein in ballooning oversupply.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $40.27 per barrel at 0059 GMT (08:59 p.m. EDT), down 9 cents from their last settlement.
International Brent crude futures were at $42.70 a barrel, 13 cents below their last close but only 36 cents off their 2016-high reached the previous day.
Major oil producers from the Middle East and Russia, but excluding the United States, plan to meet in Qatar's capital Doha next Sunday. They will discuss measures to rein in ballooning oversupply which sees as many as 2 million barrels of crude produced every day in excess of demand, leaving storage tanks around the world filled to the rims with unsold and unwanted fuel.
Reference: Straitstimes, Reuters
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