By Alex Ho

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was little changed on Tuesday in Asia ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speeches due later this week.

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against other currencies last traded 98.748, up 0.03%.

Powell will testify before Congress on Tuesday on Wednesday. With the global economy bracing for a potential slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, traders will focus on Powell’s take on the fallout and see if he would downplay the impact of the coronavirus.

The EUR/USD pair was near flat at 1.0909. Yesterday, the euro fell to a four-month low after data showed Euro area investor confidence missed estimates. Investors are worried that the euro area economy will weaken further as the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly.

"The coronavirus and its impact on the global supply chains is seen as a much bigger issue for Germany than for the U.S., thus EUR/USD pair is under pressure," ING said.

On Monday, the World Health Organization warned that the spread of cases among people who have not been to China could be "the spark that becomes a bigger fire".

The disease has claimed 1,016 lives in China so far, Chinese health officials reported on Monday.

The USD/CNY pair was down 0.2% to 6.9694.

Meanwhile, the USD/JPY pair gained 0.2% to 109.91 as Asian stocks recovered. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged almost 2%, while South Korean stocks also rose more than 1%.

The AUD/USD pair rose 0.5% to 0.6716. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Australia’s December home loan lending accelerated to its highest level since July 2018.

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