WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar gained notable ground against major currencies on Wednesday, rebounding from losses in the previous session.
Weak consumer confidence data and news about impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump weighed on the greenback on Tuesday.
However, with upbeat new home sales data suggesting there may not be aggressive rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, the greenback has bounced back and gained significant ground against some of its major rivals.
The dollar index rose 99.06, gaining nearly 0.75%. It was last seen hovering around 99.00, up by about 0.7%.
Against the euro, the dollar was up 0.7% at 1.0944, gaining from $1.1021 a unit of euro last evening.
The British currency was weak as well against the greenback, with a unit of sterling fetching $1.2356, about 1.1% less than Tuesday's close of $1.2493. Continued uncertainty about Brexit and the UK High Court's ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful weighed on sterling.
The dollar was up 0.7% against the Japanese currency, which was trading at 107.79 a dollar, down from 107.07 yen.
The dollar strengthened to 0.9921 against Swiss franc, gaining about 0.7%. Against the loonie, it was up 0.17% with the dollar-loonie pair trading at 1.3266.
The Aussie was down as much as 0.75% against the greenback, with the pair trading at 0.6750.
Data released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed U.S. new home sales rebounded strongly in the month of August following a sharp pullback in the previous month.
The Commerce Department said new home sales surged up by 7.1% to an annual rate of 713,000 in August after plunging by 8.6% to a revised rate of 666,000 in July.
Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 3.9% to a rate of 660,000 from the 635,000 originally reported for the previous month.
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