Dollar Drifts Lower On Growth Concerns
(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar shed ground on Tuesday on data showing a deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence, and concerns about the potential impact of tariffs on global economic growth.
A report from the Conference Board showed a significant deterioration by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of February. The Conference Board said its its consumer confidence index plunged to 98.3 in February from an upwardly revised 105.3 in January.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to dip to 103.0 from the 104.1 originally reported for the previous month.
On the tariff front, U.S. President Donald Trump said, "The tariffs are going forward on time on schedule," referring to the levies on Canada and Mexico.
Trump also stressed more broadly that his intended "reciprocal" tariffs were on schedule to begin as soon as April.
The dollar index, which dropped to 106.19, recovered slightly to 106.27, still down more than 0.3% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0519 from 1.0469. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar eased to 1.2670 from 1.2626.
The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, fetching 149.01 yen a unit, compared to 149.71 yen a unit on Monday. Against the Aussie, the dollar gained marginally at 0.6346.
The Swiss franc firmed to 0.8926 against the greenback, while the Loonie weakened to 1.4309 a unit of the U.S. currency.
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