HONG KONG, March 17 : The safe-haven U.S. dollar rose on Tuesday as the rapidly worsening war in the Middle East weighed on investor sentiment, while the Australian dollar wobbled in choppy trading after the central bank chief sent the market hawkish signals following a close vote to raise interest rates. The euro weakened 0.23 per cent to $1.1479, inching back towards the more than seven-month low touched on Monday. Sterling last fetched $1.3279, down 0.3 per cent on the day. The dollar index,