Dollar Loses Ground Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar drifted lower in the U.S. session on Tuesday after moving along the flat line during Asian and European sessions, weighed down by rising prospects of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, and on uncertainty about the outlook for economic growth.

Investors digested a report on U.S. consumer confidence and looked ahead to crucial economic data, including inflation readings, due later in the week.

The Conference Board's report showed a modest improvement by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of August. The report said the Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from an upwardly revised 101.9 in July.

The increase surprised economists, who had expected the consumer confidence index to edge down to 100.1 from the 100.3 originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, is due on Friday.

Economists currently expect the report to show the annual rate of consumer price growth was unchanged at 2.5%, while the annual rate of core consumer price is expected to tick up to 2.7% in July from 2.6% in June.

While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.

The dollar index dropped to 100.56, losing 0.29%.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.1187 from 1.1163, and against Pound Sterling, it eased to 1.3264 a unit of the British currency.

The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, fetching 143.95 yen a unit, dropping from 144.52 yen on Monday. The dollar dropped about 0.3% against the Aussie at 0.6793.

Against Swiss franc, the dollar slipped to CHF 0.8414 from CHF 0.8472. The dollar weakened to C$ 1.3445 against the Loonie.