U.S. Dollar Strengthens Ahead Of Fed Minutes

The U.S. dollar firmed against its major counterparts in the early European session on Tuesday, in tandem with treasury yields, as investors await the release of minutes from the latest Fed meeting for more signals about a possible rate hike in March.

The minutes from the January 30-31 meeting, due Wednesday, would help gauge the pace of potential interest rate hikes this year.

In its statement, Fed signaled that inflation could pick up this year, which would trigger "further gradual increases in the federal funds rate."

Alongside minutes, U.S. manufacturing, services and home sales data are scheduled to be released on Wednesday. The weekly jobless claims are due on Thursday.

Fed policymakers scheduled to speak include New York Fed President William Dudley and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Thursday, as well as Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and San Francisco Fed John Williams on Friday.

The benchmark yield on 2-year note rose 2.23 percent, while that of 10-year equivalent was up by 2.91 percent. Yields move inversely to bond prices.

The currency has been trading higher in the Asian session.

The greenback strengthened to 107.11 against the Japanese yen, a 6-day high. At Monday's close, the pair was valued at 106.58. If the greenback extends rise, 110.00 is seen as its next resistance level.

The greenback that closed Monday's deals at 1.2407 against the euro and 0.9291 against the franc spiked up to 6-day highs of 1.2345 and 0.9337, respectively. The greenback is seen finding resistance around 1.22 against the euro and 0.95 against the franc.

The greenback climbed to a 6-day high of 1.3932 against the pound, up from Monday's closing value of 1.3995. The next possible resistance for the greenback is seen around the 1.38 mark.

The greenback advanced to 6-day highs of 1.2598 against the loonie and 0.7343 against the kiwi, compared to yesterday's closing values of 1.2559 and 0.7371, respectively. Further uptrend for the greenback is likely to see it finding resistance around 1.28 against the loonie and 0.72 against the kiwi.

The greenback rose back to 0.7904 against the aussie, heading to pierce its early Asian session's 6-day peak of 0.7890. The greenback is poised to challenge resistance around the 0.76 mark.

Weekly survey compiled by the ANZ bank and Roy Morgan Research showed that Australia's consumer confidence weakened for the second straight time during the week ended February 18.

The consumer confidence index dropped to 115.3 from 119.5 in the preceding week.

Looking ahead, German ZEW economic sentiment index for February is slated for release in the European session.

At 8:30 am ET, Canada wholesale sales for December are due.

Eurozone preliminary consumer confidence index for February will be out at 10:00 am ET.