Here are the top 5 most important things to know for today:
1. Dollar remains steady
The dollar ticked up against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as traders bet on a strong likelihood the Federal Reserve will raise rates at its upcoming policy meeting next week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was slightly higher at 101.80 in New York morning trade. It reached a two-month high of 102.27 last week. Treasury yields were also up, with the U.S. 10-year bond at around 2.50%.
Futures traders are pricing in around a 90% chance of a hike at the Fed's March 14-15 meeting. On the data front, Tuesday will see the release of monthly U.S. trade figures at 13:30 GMT, with economists forecasting a deficit of $48.5 billion in February.
2. British Pound falls to multi-week lows
The British pound came under pressure on Tuesday, hitting multi-week lows against the dollar and the euro amid concerns about a second vote in the U.K. House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, on Brexit legislation. Britain's House of Lords will on Tuesday try to force the government to give lawmakers a greater say over the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union and final approval of an eventual deal with the block.
The pound hit a session low of 1.2184 against the dollar, the weakest since January 17. It was last at 1.2191, down 0.4% on the day. Against the euro, sterling fell about 0.2% to 0.8668, after reaching 0.8678 earlier, a level not seen since January 18.
3. Global stocks stumbles after recent rally
U.S. stock market futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday morning, putting the equity market on track to catch its breath for another session following a multi-week rally that took indices to all-time highs.
In Europe, stocks struggled for direction in mid-morning trade. A fall Tuesday would mark its fourth in a row, with equities largely pulling back after last week hitting their highest level in a year.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended mixed, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up around 0.3%, while Japan's Nikkei slumped about 0.2%.
4. German factory orders lowest since 2009
German factory orders for January plunged at the steepest pace in eight years, raising concern over the health of the euro zone's biggest economy.
Total manufacturing orders dropped 7.4% in January from the month before, much worse than expectations for a decline of 2.5%, data from the economics ministry showed Tuesday. That’s the biggest drop since January 2009.
Domestic orders fell 10.5% from December, while foreign orders were down 4.9%, serving as a reminder that Europe’s largest economy isn’t fully insulated against risks.
The euro was down slightly against the dollar at 1.0570, well short of its two-week high of 1.0640 touched on Monday.
5. China FX reserves back above $3 trillion
China's foreign exchange reserves rose for the first time in eight months in February, climbing above the key $3-trillion level, amid recent government efforts to tighten capital movement controls and stabilize the yuan's exchange rate.
China’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $7.0 billion last month to $3.005 trillion, according to data released by the People's Bank of China.
Analysts were expecting foreign reserves to fall to $2.969 trillion from the prior month’s $2.998 trillion, which was the lowest level since February 2011.