Ammon News - The dollar firmed slightly on Tuesday as investor sentiment turned cautious, ​with the war in the Middle East raging on and markets sceptical of a swift resolution even though U.S. President Donald ‌Trump delayed the bombing of Iran's power grid.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. and Iran had held "very good and productive" conversations about a "complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East". Iran denied it had engaged in any direct negotiations.

The contrasting comments and a fresh wave of fighting left markets in flux as traders weighed Trump's ​post in which he postponed the bombing for five days. Still, markets were mindful of the war all but halting shipments of ​about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz.

Sterling eased 0.49% to $1.3388 after jumping nearly 1% on Monday, while the euro was down 0.3% at $1.1583 after gaining 0.4% in the previous trading session.

The Australian dollar fell 0.6% to $0.6968 , pulling back from a six-week high. The New Zealand dollar was down 0.5% at $0.5832 .

The yen was on the back foot at 158.73 a ​dollar after Japan's core consumer inflation rate hit 1.6% in February. That was below the Bank of Japan's 2% target for the first time in nearly ​four years, complicating the bank's efforts to justify further interest rate hikes.

Oil prices edged higher after plunging more than 10% on Monday, with Brent crude futures retopping $100.94 a ‌barrel on ⁠supply concerns.

Reuters