The US dollar fell at the start of the Asian session, pressured by concerns over rising oil prices but the unit managed to steady in late trade ahead of the release of US February TICS data due later today, dealers Crude oil futures hit 70.00 usd a barrel in Asian trade amid concerns over tight US gasoline stocks and continued fears the US could launch military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, the dealers said While the dollar weakened broadly in the morning, it stayed in midranges against the euro and yen through the afternoon ahead of the US Treasury International Capital Systems (TICS) data, which measures net foreign purchases of US securities and provides a barometer for offshore interest in US assets The median estimate in a Market News International survey of economists looks for foreign demand for US assets to hold at 65 bln usd, little changed from the 66 bln in January US markets re-open Monday after the Easter holiday break although markets in Hong Kong, Australia and Europe remain closed today. Beyond the TICS data, there are a host of other key events due this week, including the release of the Federal Open market Committee minutes and CPI data on Wednesday Some dealers also pointed to Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the US as a potential factor behind market movements this week amid some expectations that China may allow greater yuan appreciation during Hu's visit "While we expect no change to the current China yuan framework or discretionary revaluation on dollar-yuan, yuan-related comments will likely be tracked under heightened scrutiny by the market," JPMorgan Chase Bank said in a daily note