The dollar edged higher against its peers on Tuesday, despite the release of downbeat U.S. data, as investors
continued to focus on the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy statement due in two-days time.
Business conditions in the New York region continued to slump in September while sales at U.S. retailers rose modestly in August, with consumers spending far less on gasoline but more on new cars and trucks.
Earlier, sentiment was also undermined by declines in Asia, where Chinese stocks took a beating and brought back concerns about slowing economic growth in the country.
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.46% at 119.96, down 0.23%.
EUR/USD was last at 1.1300, lower 0.16%.
The greenback showed little reaction to data showing that U.S. retail sales
rose 0.2% in August, below expectations for an increase of 0.3%.
Retail sales gained 0.7% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.6% uptick.
Core retail sales,
which exclude automobiles, climbed 0.1% last month, confounding
expectations for a 0.2% rise.
In July, core retail sales increased by 0.6%, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.4% gain.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its Empire State manufacturing index improved to minus 14.67 in September from minus 14.92 in August, compared to expectations for a reading of minus 0.75.
