NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The dollar turned higher on Tuesday, hitting 150 against the yen for the first time since November, after data showed U.S. inflation rose more than expected in January, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates in March.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3% on a monthly basis in January, above the 0.2% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters. On a year-on-year basis, it gained 3.1% versus the 2.9% estimated growth.
The greenback surged to 150.34 yen, the highest since November. It was last up 0.6% at 150.305 yen.
The dollar index turned positive after the data, and was last up 0.4% at 104.59.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
