Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly higher against its major counterparts on Tuesday, as tensions in the Middle East and North Africa continued, prompting investors towards safety of the greenback.
During European morning trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD dropping 0.91% to hit a four-day low of 1.3553.
Earlier in the day, market research group Gfk said its index of Germany’s consumer climate advanced to 6.0 in March, after rising to a revised 5.8 in February. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged at 5.8 in March.
The greenback was also up against the pound, with GBP/USD shedding 0.51% to hit a three-day low of 1.6143.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY dipping 0.34% to hit an eight-day low of 82.85 and USD/CHF sliding 0.17% to hit 0.9453.
Earlier Tuesday, ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Japan’s credit rating outlook to negative from stable, citing the risk the government won’t do enough to tackle the nation’s debt burden.
Meanwhile, the greenback was up against its Canadian, New Zealand and Australian counterparts, with USD/CAD gaining 0.32% to hit 0.9861, NZD/USD tumbling 2.11% to hit a two-month low of 0.7472 and AUD/USD declining 0.88% to hit 1.0005.
Earlier in the day, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused multiple deaths and toppled buildings in New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.62%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on consumer confidence compiled by the Conference Board as well as industry data on house prices and a report on manufacturing activity in Richmond.
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