Dollar Rises Against Major Rivals

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher against its major rivals on Tuesday as concerns about banking sector woes and caution ahead of key earnings updates pushed up the demand for the safe-haven currency.

First Republic reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing consumer confidence has deteriorated by much more than anticipated in the month of April.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slumped to 101.3 in April from a revised 104.0 in March. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 104.0 from the 104.2 originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed new home sales unexpectedly spiked to their highest level in a year in March.

Investors now await the monetary policy meetings of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

The three central banks are widely expected to raise interest rates in order to fight inflation, and it is feared that policy tightening by the banks could significantly slow down economic growth.

The dollar index climbed to 101.95, gaining about 0.6%.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0977 from 1.1049. The dollar is trading at 1.2411 against Pound Sterling, gaining from 1.2485.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar weakened to 133.72 yen, easing from 134.24 yen.

The dollar is stronger against the Aussie at 0.6625. Against Swiss franc, the dollar has strengthened to CHF 0.8921 from CHF 0.8876. The Loonie is weak against the dollar at C$ 1.3627, down from C$ 1.3543.