Early trade in New York: Dollar little changed against basket of currencies

The US dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as traders looked to the latest developments in the US-China trade talks for direction and the shortened holiday week kept currency moves muted.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed issues related to phase one of a trade agreement and agreed to maintain communication on remaining issues.

Separately, the Global Times, a tabloid run by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, reported on Sunday that China and the United States are "moving closer to agreeing" on a "phase one" trade deal, even as Washington and Beijing had not agreed on specifics or size of rollbacks of tariffs on Chinese goods.

"Does this tell us anything we didn't know six, seven weeks ago? Hard to say. But I'll believe when I see it," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

The dollar index, which compares the greenback against six other major currencies, was up 0.02% at 98.339.

Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.15%. The US currency had jumped to a two-week high against the safe-haven Japanese yen in Asian trading.

Sterling was 0.4% lower at $1.2846 on Tuesday after a second poll showed the Conservative Party's lead is narrowing before the British election next month.