Early trade in New York: dollar pressured by China comments

The dollar dropped against the euro and briefly hit a record low against the Swiss franc on Tuesday after a senior Chinese currency regulator repeated warnings about investing too heavily in dollar-denominated assets. In an article posted on the website of the China Finance 40 Forum, a Beijing-based think tank, Guan Tao said his country must be alert to the risk of holding too many dollars when Washington is pursuing loose monetary and fiscal policies.
"The United States may find it hard to resist the policy temptation of weakening the dollar abroad and pushing up inflation at home," Guan said. The comments from China had earlier sent the dollar to a record low of 0.8327 Swiss francs, but the safe-haven Swissie eventually reversed course as investors sought riskier assets. The dollar, which is down 10 percent against the currency this year, last traded at 0.8382, up 0.5 percent. The euro hit a one-month high of $1.4682, helped partly by better-than-expected German factory data, before easing to$1.4664, up 0.6 percent. The dollar fell 0.1 percent to 80.18 yen.