Greenback edges greater, China worries nonetheless dominate

© Reuters. Dollar gains some ground vs. rivals in cautious trade

Investing.com – The dollar edged higher against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as concerns over ongoing volatility in China and declining oil prices continued to dominate market sentiment.

was steady at 117.82, not far from Monday’s more than four-month trough of 116.68.

prices fell to fresh 12-year lows on Tuesday amid concerns that slowing global demand is fueling a massive supply glut.

Investors also remained concerned over the extent of the economic slowdown in China, following a steep selloff in Chinese stocks and a renewed devaluation in the yuan since the start of the year.

Shares in China closed higher on Tuesday, after Beijing stepped up measures to support the yuan. China’s central bank guided the yuan higher for a third day, but uncertainty over Beijing’s currency policy persisted.

was little changed at 1.0850.

Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with down 0.54% at fresh five-year lows of 1.4466, and was steady against the Swiss franc, with at 1.0013.

Sterling weakened after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said fell 0.7% in November from the previous month, compared with forecasts for a flat reading. It was the biggest drop since January 2013.

fell 0.4% compared with October, well below forecasts for a 0.1% increase.

On a year-over-year basis, contracted by 1.2%, its fourth consecutive month of contraction. Economists had forecast a more modest decline of 0.8%.

Sterling also remained under heavy selling pressure amid concerns that the Bank of England will signal that rates are likely to remain on hold for longer after its policy meeting on Thursday.

The Australian dollars was steady, with at 0.6993, while slipped 0.27% to 0.6541.

Meanwhile, was almost unchanged at 1.4216, after hitting fresh 12-1/2 year highs of 1.4269 overnight.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.08% at 99.00.

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Greenback edges greater, China worries nonetheless dominate