Dollar finds a footing after tumbling on weak economic data
Istanbul, June 4 (Hibya) - The dollar ticked up on Tuesday after falling to its lowest against the euro, sterling and Swiss franc since mid-March overnight as signs of a softening U.S. economy boosted the case for earlier Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Investors were looking towards U.S. job openings data later in the day, which would provide insight into the state of the labour market and could push the U.S. currency lower.
The euro rose as high as $1.0916 for the first time since March 21 but gave up some ground to stand 0.3 percent lower at $1.0866. Sterling hit its highest since mid-March, at $1.2818, but was also down 0.4 percent.
As the U.S. currency found a footing, the dollar index was up 0.11 percent at 104.26, having fallen to its lowest since mid-April overnight at 103.99.
Data on Monday showed a second straight month of a slowdown in manufacturing activity and an unexpected decline in construction spending, causing the dollar index to fall around 0.6 percent.
“The dollar is starting to show weakness,” said Chris Turner, global head of markets at lender ING. “Today’s US JOLTS job openings data could determine whether recent dollar losses are... the start of an important new trend.”