WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Dollar climbed up against most of its major rivals on Tuesday, lifted by hawkish comments from Fed officials that signaled the central bank will start tapering its bond purchase program sometime soon.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said inflation has already reached the Fed's 2% threshold, one of the two conditions needed before a rate hike move.
Traders look ahead to data on inflation, due on Wednesday, for more clues on the central bank's policy outlook.
Traders also noted that the U.S. Senate has passed the $1 trillion bipartisal infrastructure bill. The bill will now go to the House of Representatives for a vote. A fresh debate will begin on $3.5 trillion plan after the vote on the infrastructure bill.
The dollar index, which advanced to 93.14, is currently at 93.08, up 0.14% from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to $1.1718 from $1.1736. German economic confidence deteriorated more-than-expected to a ten-month low in August, survey data from the ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research showed.
The report said the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany fell to 40.4 from 63.3 in July, falling for a third consecutive month, due to a more challenging environment for the German economy. The score was forecast to drop moderately to 56.7.
The Pound Sterling weakened a bit against the dollar, and is fetching $1.3839 a unit, slightly less than $1.3846 on Monday.
The Yen eased to 110.59 a dollar, weakening from 110.32. Data from the Ministry of Finance showed that Japan posted a current account surplus of 905.1 billion yen in June, exceeding expectations for a surplus of 779.8 billion yen following the 1,979.7 billion yen surplus in May.
Against the Aussie, the dollar dropped to 0.7347, giving up nearly 0.2%. Australia's business conditions and confidence declined sharply in July amid strict restrictions in many states to curb the spread of the virus, survey results from National Australia Bank showed on Tuesday.
The business conditions index fell to 11 in July from 25 in June. Conditions softened in all industries, with the exception of mining - where it remained elevated.
The dollar gained against Swiss franc, advancing to CHF0.9230 from 0.9198.
Against the Loonie, the dollar was at 1.2526 compared with 1.2578 Monday evening.
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