Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly higher against its major counterparts on Tuesday, as risk aversion escalated amid security fears following Sunday’s killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
During European morning trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.35% to hit 1.4780.
The greenback was also up against the pound, with GBP/USD plunging 0.91% to hit 1.6496.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that manufacturing activity in the U.K. fell more-than-expected in April to hit a seven-month low.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY sliding 0.24% to hit 81.01 and USD/CHF dipping 0.02% to hit 0.8650.
Elsewhere, the greenback was slightly lower against its Canadian counterpart but rose against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD dipping 0.03% to hit 0.9502, AUD/USD shedding 0.57% to hit 1.0882 and NZD/USD falling 0.55% to hit 0.8018.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of Australia held the overnight cash rate at 4.75%, indicating that the record strength of the Australian dollar will contain consumer prices until late this year.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.18%.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to release government data on factory orders.
ForexPros.com
