Inflation held steady in December, continuing to prove stubborn just days after reports of a Department of Justice probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell brought fresh scrutiny to the independence of the central bank and its capacity to manage price increases.

Prices rose 2.7% in December compared to a year earlier, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Tuesday showed. The reading matched economists' expectations.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of six major peers, was weakening by 0.3% on Monday in reaction to the Department of Justice's probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday that the Justice Department subpoenaed the central bank Friday with the threat of a criminal indictment, the latest move in a yearlong pressure campaign from the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump is facing growing backlash from fellow Republicans over the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation targeting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In a joint statement, every living former Fed chair,

Stocks closed higher on Monday, shrugging off a dip earlier in the day after reports that the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The allegations appeared to center on testimony made by Powell about a multi-billion-dollar building renovation at a congressional committee in June.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the criminal probe was an intimidation tactic by the Trump administration because the president was frustrated by the central bank's independent decisions on interest rates and its refusal to comply with Trump’s demands for ultra-low rates.

The euro is expected to appreciate versus sterling as the European Central Bank’s and the Bank of England’s interest-rate paths diverge, Nomura said. The dollar weakened.