Dollar pauses for breath with Fed speakers in focus

The U.S. dollar faced continued pressure in early trading in Asia on Tuesday as traders parsed comments by members of the Federal Reserve for clues on the path of interest rates.

The greenback edged lower, extending declines after snapping a three-day winning streak Monday, with the U.S. dollar index last at 97.28.

"It's a slightly hawkish tone from Fed speakers that has given people a little bit of pause for thought," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

Investors are assessing the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies on the health of the global economy and the implications for Federal Reserve policy ahead of the release of core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data later this week.

Congressional funding talks this week to avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30 have added to market jitters.

Traders have reined in bets of interest rate cuts at the Federal Open Market Committee's October meeting, with Fed funds futures implying a 10.2% chance of a hold, compared to a probability of 8.1% on Friday, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Against the yen, the dollar was flat at 147.74 yen, remaining firmly in the trading range it has sat in since the start of August. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday Tuesday.

The kiwi weakened 0.1% to $0.5867 after the New Zealand government said it would make an announcement related to the central bank Wednesday at 1 p.m. (0100 GMT), as markets await the appointment of a new governor.

Gold hit a fresh record high of $3,749.03 per ounce.