Dollar Extends Gains Amid Interest Rate Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher on Tuesday, extending recent gains, and hitting fresh 11-month high amid rising expectations that interest rates will stay higher for longer than previously thought.

As interest rate concerns weighed on the bond market, the yield on benchmark ten-year note spiked 11.9 basis points to 4.802%, hitting a 16-year high.

Fairly upbeat economic data from the U.S. pushed up the demand for greenback.

Recent comments by Federal Reserve officials have suggested the central bank may raise rates higher than had been anticipated and keep rates an elevated level for longer than expected.

Adding to the interest rate worries, the Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a notable increase in U.S. job openings in the month of August.

The Labor Department said job openings surged to 9.61 million in August from an upwardly revised 8.92 million in July.

The jump surprised economists, who had expected job openings to edge down to 8.80 million from the 8.83 million originally reported for the previous month.

The dollar index surged to 107.35 around mid morning today, and despite easing to 107.05, remains above the flat line, gaining nearly 0.15%.

Against the Euro, the dollar is up marginally at 1.0469, and against Pound Sterling, it is trading at 1.2081, up slightly from the previous close.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar strengthened to 150.19 yen before retreating to 148.90 yen, notably down from the previous close of 149.86 yen, amid speculation the Japanese monetary officials may have intervened to keep their currency from sliding further.

The dollar is up against the Aussie at 0.6300, gaining from 0.6362.

Against Swiss franc, the dollar has firmed to CHF 0.9211 from CHF 0.9183. Against the Loonie, the U.S. currency is up at C$ 1.3712, strengthening from C$ 1.3676.