Dollar mixed as Ukraine tension eases

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies on Tuesday and it rallied versus the yen as Ukraine tension eased. Investors' demand for safe assets shrank after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered forces engaged in military drills to return to their permanent bases. Putin also said at a news conference there was no need to use military force in Ukraine's Crimea region for now, which significantly relieved market fears over military actions. In the previous session, the greenback and the yen advanced against their counterparts on escalated Ukraine worries and increased demand for safe haven assets following Russia's threats during the weekend. No major economic data is due on Tuesday. The most closely- watched data for this week will come on Friday when U.S. Labor Department releases its nonfarm payrolls report for February. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank will hold a monetary policy meeting on Thursday. Official estimate last week showed eurozone inflation was above market forecast, which cooled down speculations that the central bank would further loose monetary policy. In late New York trading, the euro traded at 1.3734 dollars, the same as in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.6672 dollars from 1.6659 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.8941 dollar from 0.8929 dollar. The dollar bought 102.26 Japanese yen, higher than 101.43 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved up to 0.8875 Swiss franc from 0.8834 Swiss franc, and it went up to 1.1111 Canadian dollars from 1.1081 Canadian dollars.