WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar gained ground against some of its major counterparts on Tuesday, on rising bond yields and an escalation in tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities and ordered the army to launch what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation into the area.
Following the move, the U.K. announced a 'first tranche' of sanctions on Russia, targeting five Russian banks and three 'very high net worth' individuals.
Describing the latest actions by Russia as the beginning of an 'invasion' of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the 'first tranche' of U.S. sanctions.
'I'm going to begin to impose sanctions in response, far beyond the steps we and our allies and partners implemented in 2014,' Biden said from the White House. 'And if Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions.'
Biden said the U.S. will impose sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions, VEB and Russia's military bank, and Russia's sovereign debt as well as Russian elites and their family members.
Biden also announced the U.S. has worked with Germany to ensure the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not move forward, with Germany previously halting certification of the pipeline.
In U.S. economic news, a report from the Conference Board showed a modest decrease in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of February.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dipped to 110.5 in February from a downwardly revised 111.1 in January. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to drop to 110.0 from the 113.8 originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar index climbed to 96.26 in the Asian session, but dropped to 95.84 later before recovering to 96.11, gaining marginally over the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar recovered to $1.1327 after having weakened to $1.1367 in the Asian session.
The dollar is trading at $1.3587 against Pound Sterling, gaining about 0.11%.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar is at 115.08 yen, up from 114.74 yen.
The dollar is trading at 0.7220 against the Aussie, easing from $0.7190.a
The dollar is fetching CHF 0.9217 a unit, up from CHF 0.9157 on Friday, while against the Loonie, it is trading at C$ 1.2768, gaining from C$ 1.2754.
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