* Fed seen keeping monetary policy stance
* U.S. retail sales fall unexpectedly in February
* Euro falls vs dollar, yen rises
* Aussie and Kiwi dollars slip
* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Adds new comment, FX table, U.S. data, updates prices)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - The dollar was little changed to slightly higher on Tuesday in choppy trading, with currencies generally lacking direction as market participants awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting for clues as to where U.S. interest rates are headed.
The greenback overall posted gains against the euro and commodity currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
At the Fed's two-day monetary policy meeting, policymakers are expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will grow in 2021 at its fastest rate in decades, with unemployment falling and inflation rising, but they are unlikely to change their monetary policy. Fed will likely maintain its stance because there is clearly no sign of outrageous inflationary growth and equities seem fine after last week's concern with yields," said Juan Perez, FX strategist and trader at Tempus Inc in Washington.
"U.S. producer prices, consumer prices, and even retail sales from this morning show that we have a long way to go before tightening any conditions," he added.
Tuesday's data showed U.S. retail sales dropped by a seasonally adjusted 3.0% last month due in part to harsh weather in February. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales decreased 3.5% last month after surging by an upwardly revised 8.7% in January. midmorning trading, the dollar index was up 0.1% at 91.902 =USD . It has gained for a third straight session.
Investors will also pore over whatever the Fed has to say about the rise in yields, which have gained on bets that economic growth and inflation could prompt a faster-than-expected normalization of monetary policy.
"Anything less than a strong message of the Fed being very committed to maintaining favourable financial market conditions will likely see USD advance further," MUFG FX strategists wrote in a weekly note on Friday.
U.S. Treasury yields were down overall, with the benchmark 10-year note at 1.589% US10YT=RR .
The euro was down 0.2% at $1.1906 EUR=EBS .
It has held below $1.20 since March 5, hurt by expectations for a slower economic recovery in Europe compared with the UK and the United States due to problems rolling out coronavirus vaccines.
Germany, France and Italy said on Monday they would suspend AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) COVID-19 shots after several countries reported possible serious side effects, but the World Health Organization said there was no proven link and people should not panic. Australian dollar - which is seen as a barometer for risk appetite - was down 0.2% at US$0.7742 AUD=D3 . The New Zealand dollar also slipped, down 0.1% at US$0.7191 NZD=D3 .
Britain's pound was little changed at $1.3891 GBP=D3 . Economic growth in the UK will fall by 4% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the first quarter of 2020, the governor of the Bank of England said. dollar fell 0.3% against the yen to 108.79 JPY=EBS ahead of the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting, which ends on Friday. The central bank's governor said on Tuesday it was important to keep long-term interest rates "stably low". bid prices at 10:16AM (1416 GMT) Description
RIC
Last
U.S. Close Pct Change
YTD Pct
High Bid
Low Bid
Previous
Change
Session
Dollar index
=USD
91.8620
91.8220
+0.06%
2.090%
+91.9740
+91.6770 Euro/Dollar
EUR=EBS
$1.1907
$1.1929
-0.19%
-2.55%
+$1.1952
+$1.1897 Dollar/Yen
JPY=D3
108.8300
109.1200
-0.25%
+5.38%
+109.2800 +108.8100 Euro/Yen
EURJPY=
129.57
130.16
-0.45%
+2.09%
+130.3900 +129.5000 Dollar/Swiss
0.9259
0.9275
-0.15%
+4.69%
+0.9287
+0.9244 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3
$1.3888
$1.3900
-0.08%
+1.66%
+$1.3903
+$1.3809 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3
1.2470
1.2473
-0.02%
-2.07%
+1.2500
+1.2460 Aussie/Dollar
AUD=D3
$0.7743
$0.7756
-0.17%
+0.65%
+$0.7756
+$0.7711 Euro/Swiss
EURCHF=
1.1025
1.1064
-0.35%
+2.02%
+1.1076
+1.1020 Euro/Sterling
EURGBP=
0.8573
0.8582
-0.10%
-4.07%
+0.8640
+0.8571 NZ
NZD=D3
$0.7189
$0.7200
-0.11%
+0.15%
+$0.7205
+$0.7168 Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway
NOK=D3
8.4770
8.4675
+0.20%
-1.19%
+8.4855
+8.4420 Euro/Norway
EURNOK=
10.0940
10.0810
+0.13%
-3.56%
+10.1158
+10.0747 Dollar/Sweden
8.5256
8.5125
+0.06%
+4.02%
+8.5332
+8.4805 Euro/Sweden
EURSEK=
10.1525
10.1461
+0.06%
+0.76%
+10.1733
+10.1300
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates
https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E USD
https://tmsnrt.rs/3a0DdOD
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