Dollar firmer as markets await US inflation data for Fed clues

The dollar nudged a little higher in Asian trade on Wednesday, receiving limited additional strength after renewed attacks on shipping in critical waterways in the Middle East, as currency markets anxiously awaited the release of inflation data later in the global day.

Oil prices edged up in Asian trade, with Brent crude LCOc1 0.9% higher at $89.69 a barrel after an attack by Iran-backed Houthis on a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and a U.S. military strike on a container ship off Pakistan attempting to break its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said on Tuesday the central bank is more concerned about too-high inflation than about any labor market weakness, although it was unclear whether that stance aligned him with the minority of policymakers who favoured an interest-rate hike last month.