WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell's hawkish comments on Monday, and safe-haven buying following an escalation in tensions in the Middle East lifted the value of U.S. dollar higher on Tuesday.
Powell said in remarks prepared for delivery at a National Association for Business Economics conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday that the risks are two-sided and the Fed will continue to make interest-rate decisions meeting by meeting.
On the geopolitical front, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel. Earlier, Israel said its troops entered southern Lebanon for what it called a 'limited' raid but Hezbollah denied they crossed into the territory.
Earlier in the day, a senior White House official said the U.S. had indications Iran was preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.
'We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,' the official said in a statement.
In U.S. economic news, job openings in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a modest increase in the month of August, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Tuesday.
The Labor Department said jobs openings rose to 8.04 million in August from an upwardly revised 7.71 million in July.
Economists had expected job openings to come in unchanged compared to the 7.67 million originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar index climbed to 101.39 before paring some gains, dropping to 101.22. Still, the index was up 0.44% from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.1070 from 1.1137. The dollar strengthened to 1.3288 against Pound Sterling, gaining from 1.3375.
The dollar weakened a bit against the Japanese currency, easing to 143.53 yen a unit, from 143.64 yen. Against the Aussie, the dollar firmed to 0.6886 from 0.6913.
The Swiss franc weakened marginally to 0.8463 a dollar, while the Loonie strengthened to 1.3490 a U.S. dollar as oil prices rose sharply on geopolitical tensions.
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