LONDON, Feb 24 - The dollar held steady near three-week highs against the euro and three-month highs against the yen on Tuesday, ahead of Germany's Ifo business survey and testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan. The greenback retained most of the gains it made last week during a shakeout of long-time sellers who grew impatient with the euro's failure to breach $1.30 in two recent approaches and the yen's reluctance to break substantially higher. Many dealers remained convinced the dollar would renew its downward course soon, but said many investors still needed to buy dollars after going short for so long.
At 0755 GMT, the dollar traded at $1.2555 , flat versus its previous New York close but hanging onto most of last week's rebound from an all-time low of $1.2927. The greenback held steady to against the yen at 108.43 . Analysts expected the headline Ifo index to show a rise to 97.6 in February from 97.5 previously at 0900 GMT. Greenspan testifies at 1500 GMT before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on government-sponsored enterprises. Also at 1500 GMT, economists expected the Conference Board's consumer confidence index to show a decline to 92.5 compared with 96.8 previously.||