The greenback edged higher against the majors, climbing to 108.36 versus the yen and pushing the euro to 1.4615. A barrage of US economic data was released earlier in the session, with key indicators on inflation and housing giving further clues on the scope for additional easing by the FOMC. Inflation ticked higher in January with the headline consumer price index edging out expectations - at 0.4% m/m and 4.3% from 4.1% a year earlier. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, stood at 0.4% m/m and 2.5% from 2.4% in the previous year. Housing starts reversed the 14.2% plunge in December, edging up by 0.8% to 1.012 million units in January.

Inflation Energy Consumer price index