Dollar steady in thin trade

The dollar was steady against the other major currencies on Tuesday as trade volumes in foreign exchange markets remained low due to the summer holidays.

During European morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.01% to trade at 99.64, after falling to lows of 99.15 earlier in the session.

The dollar had been lower during the Asian session after data on Monday showing that U.S. existing home sales fell unexpectedly in June dampened expectations that the Federal Reserve will start scaling back its asset purchase program this year.

The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell 1.2% to an annual rate of 5.08 million units in June, but still remained close to three-and-a-half year highs.

In Japan, the government upgraded its assessment of the economy for the third consecutive month in July, saying "areas of self-sustaining recovery can be observed."

In its monthly economic report, the government also said consumer prices are “leveling off," indicating that deflation is abating.

The dollar edged higher against the euro, with EUR/USD inching down 0.05% to 1.3179.

The single currency remained supported after Portugal’s Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said Monday the current government will remain in office after political leaders resolved a deadlock that had threatened to derail the country's EUR78 billion bailout program.

Elsewhere, the dollar was fractionally higher against the pound, withGBP/USD slipping 0.07% to 1.5347 and gained ground against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF climbing 0.25% to 0.9385. 

The greenback was mixed against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD inching up 0.01% to 0.9248,NZD/USD up 0.17% to 0.7984 and USD/CAD edging up 0.09% to trade at 1.0341.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.09% to 82.39.