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The U.S. dollar strengthened against major currencies including the yen and the Swiss franc on Wednesday as data showed a slowdown in inflation although global trade tensions suggest that concerns about consumer prices and the economy will continue to weigh on markets. That report comes on the back of a trade brinkmanship between the U.S. and its trading partners, marked by President Donald Trump's unpredictable announcements on tariffs. In the latest episode, the European Union announced on Wednesday that it will impose counter tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.39 billion) worth of U.S. goods from April, in response to blanket U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium that came into force earlier in the day.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices rose 2% on Wednesday, as U.S. government data showed tighter oil and fuel inventories than expected, though investors kept an eye on mounting fears of a U.S. economic slowdown and the impact of tariffs on global economic growth. Brent futures rose $1.33, or 1.9%, to $70.89 a barrel at 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $1.45, or 2.2%, to $67.70 a barrel. "This evidences stronger demand and could see oil prices rise as a result."

India's largest privately owned oil and gas company Cairn India said it may invest in U.S. service and engineering companies as part of a $5 billion plan to grow output five-fold in the coming years, its chairman said on Tuesday. "I want to spend $5 billion on developing my project to get to 500,000 barrels per day production," billionaire Anil Agarwal told Reuters in an interview. Cairn, part of Vedanta Limited, produces 100,000 bpd today.

U.S. inflation slowed last month for the first time since September and a measure of underlying inflation fell to a four-year low, even as widespread tariffs threaten to send prices higher. The consumer price index increased 2.8% in February from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, down from 3% the previous month. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1% from a year earlier, down from 3.3% in January.

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