06:56 AM EDT, 05/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The US dollar softened against most major currencies during early European trade on Tuesday ahead of updates on consumer confidence from the Conference Board and PCE inflation figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis later in the week.

Most major currencies edged higher against a generally softer US dollar on Tuesday except for the Japanese yen, Norwegian krone and Canadian dollar, which underperformed G10 peers during the European morning.

G20 currencies were more of a mixed bag with the Chinese renminbi, South African rand, Indian rupee and Mexican peso all weakening relative to the greenback while the remainder of the basket edged higher.

The dollar softened on Tuesday despite widespread declines for equity markets in Europe and Asia, which came alongside a broad bid for government bonds in a quiet session for economic data.

Quiet calendars in Europe and elsewhere leave market attention fixed on the 10 am ET release of consumer confidence data, which is the economic highlight of the week in the US ahead of the release of core PCE inflation figures on Friday.

The consensus forecast is for a reading of 96, against April's 97, Investing.com data showed on Bloomberg.

A quick summary of foreign exchange activity heading into the European lunch hour and US open;

In Europe EUR/USD was quoted 0.13% higher around 1.0875, up from levels as low as 1.0839 on Monday and making the European single currency the third best performer in the G10 basket behind the Swedish krona and Swiss franc. The euro rose broadly even after an ECB survey showed consumers' inflation expectations falling to their lowest level since September 2021.

Elsewhere in Europe GBP/USD was quoted 0.02% higher at 1.2773 after rising off intraday lows around 1.2761 and remaining buoyant when the Confederation of British Industry said its measure of retail sales rose at its fastest pace in almost 18 months in May. The realized sales balance leapt to 8 in May, from minus 44 in April, though retailers said they expect sales to fall again in June while expectations were for headcount to be reduced and for investment spending to moderate up ahead.

In Asia, USD/JPY was quoted 0.01% higher at 156.84, up from overnight lows around 156.60 and making the yen the second-worst performing G10 currency behind only the Norwegian krone after the Bank of Japan's measures of underlying inflation moderated further in April. The trimmed-mean measure fell to a 22-month low of 1.8% last month from 2.2% in March, while the weighted median measure declined to a 13-month low of 1.1%. The services producer price index surged, meanwhile, to 2.8% in April from an upwardly-revised 2.4% previously. This was ahead of the consensus for a reading of 2.3%.

Back in North America, USD/CAD was unchanged at 1.3627 after edging higher from lows of 1.3615 set during Asian trade. There was no economic data or other market-moving event overnight in Canada though the Loonie could be sensitive to Tuesday's 8:30 ET release of producer price index figures for April. Consensus expects a 0.6% MoM increase.