The dollar was trading lower against the yen and euro Tuesday morning in Asia ahead of a report on the February U.S. trade deficit later in the day.
The dollar was trading at 107.63 yen Tuesday morning, down 0.47 yen from late Monday in Tokyo and below the 107.83 yen it bought in New York later that day. The euro rose to $1.2976 from $1.2950 late Monday but fell to 139.64 yen from 139.98 yen.
The U.S. currency was mostly lower against other regional currencies.
Late Monday in New York, the British pound rose to $1.8914 from $1.8836. The U.S. currency also fell to 1.1921 Swiss francs from 1.1984, but climbed versus the Canadian dollar to 1.2330 from 1.2283.
The dollar has fallen this week ahead of U.S. economic reports being watched closely by market players.
Set for release later Tuesday was data on the February U.S. trade deficit, followed by U.S. Treasury international capital flows data on Friday, which will show if there was enough money flowing into the United States to fund the deficit.
Those sets of data, which both describe key components of the U.S. current account, are among the factors that pushed the dollar sharply lower last year. They are usually interpreted together to show if there was enough money flowing into the United States to fund the deficit.
A wider-than-expected U.S. trade deficit could rekindle concerns over the American economy, damping the dollar's recent bullishness.
The market consensus is for the U.S. trade deficit to increase a bit to $58.3 billion in February from $58.27 billion in January. A much wider than expected deficit could rekindle concerns over the American economy, dampening the dollar's recent bullishness.
Investors are also waiting for the minutes of the March 22 Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The March FOMC statement -- which took a more hawkish tone on inflation -- is said to have been one of the catalysts for the current positive sentiment toward the dollar.