• The dollar fell in Asian trading on Tuesday, as concerns over tensions with North Korea and Syria weighed on U.S. Treasury yields and offset expectations of U.S. interest rate hikes.
The dollar index, which gauges the U.S. currency against a basket of six major peers, edged down 0.1 percent to 101.950 .DXY.
The dollar dropped 0.2 percent to 110.68 Japanese yen JPY=, moving away from its overnight high of 111.57. It remained solidly in the 110.11-112.19 range in which it has traded since late March.
The euro was steady on the day at to $1.0599 EUR= after plumbing $1.0568 overnight, its lowest level since March 9, amid uncertainty ahead of France's upcoming presidential election.
• The Federal Reserve's plans to raise U.S. interest rates gradually are aimed at sustaining full employment and near-2-percent inflation without letting the economy overheat, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday.
Yellen's comments largely echoed what she has said since then, and did not offer any new color on the timing of the rate hikes, or of the Fed's eventual reduction of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
"We think a gradual path of increases in short-term interest rates can get us to where we need to be, but we don’t want to wait too long to have that happen," she said.
• China and South Korea agreed on Monday to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests, a senior official in Seoul said, as a U.S. Navy strike group headed to the region in a show of force.
The possibility of U.S. military action against North Korea in response to such tests gained traction following last week's U.S. strikes against Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack on civilians by President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
• British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke on Monday to U.S. President Donald Trump and agreed that "a window of opportunity" exists to persuade Russia to break ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, May's office said.
• Crude oil prices continued to push upward as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took a tougher line on the conflict in Syria at a meeting with his G7 counterparts. He said the US will “[hold] to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents,” stoking fears of a deepening crisis that may disrupt supply flow.
• Oil rose toward $56 a barrel on Monday, supported by another shutdown at Libya's largest oilfield over the weekend and geopolitical tensions following last week's U.S. missile strike on Syria.
Brent crude LCOc1, the global benchmark, rose 74 cents to settle at $55.98, not far from the one-month high of$56.08 reached on Friday. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 84 cents to settle at $53.08.
Reference: Reuters,CNBC
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