NEW YORK (REUTERS)

Longer-dated US Treasury yields rose and the dollar fell on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump's attempt to fire a Federal Reserve governor fueled concerns about the Fed's independence, while Wall Street stocks were little changed.

Trump has been pushing the Fed to lower rates to boost economic growth.

Expectations of a potentially more dovish Fed helped to send shorter-dated yields lower. But a politically influenced Fed that keeps rates lower than they otherwise might could increase concerns over rising inflation and reduce foreign demand for the debt on credit fears. Those factors will weigh on longer-dated debt.

The dollar fell against major currencies on the Cook news, and a global stock index was lower as European shares dropped, led by losses in France as political uncertainty deepened in the country. France's CAC 40 .FCHI fell 1.5% as the country's minority government looked increasingly likely to be ousted next month.

The S&P 500 was nearly flat, with investors waiting for Nvidia's NVDA.O results on Wednesday and a key inflation report later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49.02 points, or 0.11%, to 45,233.45, the S&P 500 rose 1.25 points, or 0.02%, to 6,440.45 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 37.51 points, or 0.18%, to 21,486.80.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 2.49 points, or 0.26%, to 950.47. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.69%.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.3% to 98.17, with the euro up 0.34% at $1.1657. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.14% to 147.54.

The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield typically moves in step with interest rate expectations. It was last down 2.4 basis points on the day at 3.706%. The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes US10YT=RR rose 1.2 basis points to 4.287%.

Investors anxiously await Friday's US personal consumption prices reading, considered the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

Oil prices were lower, while gold rose. US crude fell 1.13% to $64.07 a barrel and Brent fell to $68.08 per barrel, down 1.05% on the day. Spot gold rose 0.34% to $3,377.61 an ounce.