Dollar Gains Against Major Rivals

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher on Tuesday amid rising possibility of sharp interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the coming months to tame inflation.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said in an interview today that rates needed to be between 3% and 3.5% by the end of this year. He added that he did not anticipate a U.S. recession.

In economic news today, a report from the Conference Board showed U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slid to 98.7 in June from a downwardly revised 103.2 in May. Economists had expected the index to drop to 101.0 from the 106.4 originally reported for the previous month.

With the continued decrease, the consumer confidence index fell to its lowest level since hitting 95.2 in February of 2021.

The dollar index climbed to 104.61 before paring some gains. Still, at 104.50, the index is up as much as 0.53% from the previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar has firmed to $1.0522 from $1.0585. The Euro shed ground as the ECB President Christine Lagarde offered no fresh insight into the central bank's policy outlook.

The dollar is stronger at $1.2184 against Pound Sterling, gaining from $1.2267.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar is firming up, fetching 136.20 yen a unit, compared with 135.47 yen on Monday.

The dollar is up at 0.6908 against the Aussie. Against Swiss franc, the greenbuck is up at CHF 0.9575, firming from CHF 0.9562.

The dollar is roughly flat against the Loonie at C$1.2875, after moving between C$1.2820 and $1.2896.