Dollar stable

TOKYO: The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was nearly flat at 95.140, after losing 0.2 percent overnight.

The yen slipped on Tuesday on news a Japanese chipmaker was buying a U.S. peer for $6.7 billion, while sterling held onto overnight gains after the European Union´s top negotiator raised hopes a Brexit deal can be struck in the coming weeks.

Most other major currencies stayed in tight ranges as investors awaited developments in international trade disputes, in particular on any U.S. move to slap fresh duties on China amid heightened tension between the two economic giants.

Monday´s reports that Michel Barnier, the EU´s top negotiator, told a forum in Slovenia that it was "realistic" to expect a Brexit deal in six to eight weeks helped send the pound sharply higher to $1.3052, its highest level since Aug. 2. Barnier´s comments were seized on by markets as a signal the UK may avoid a disorderly no-deal Brexit.

In recent weeks, sterling had been under pressure on worries that Britain would exit from the EU without any formal trading agreement. On Tuesday, sterling rose about 0.1 percent to $1.3041."If the negotiations for Brexit go well it naturally becomes a tailwind for the pound," said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities.