Dollar Rises Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher on Monday in thin deals ahead of Christmas holidays. The passing of a crucial funding bill by the House and Senate that will help prevent a partial shutdown buoyed up the dollar.

Data on durable goods orders, new home sales and weekly jobless claims are due this holiday-shorterned week.

A report from the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods slumped by much more than expected in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday. The report said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1% in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8% in October.

Consumer confidence in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of December, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Monday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 104.7 in December from an upwardly revised 112.8 in November.

After reporting a sharp pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report showing a significant rebound by new home sales in the month of November. The Commerce Department said new home sales surged by 5.9% to an annual rate of 664,000 in November after plunging by 14.8% to a revised rate of 627,000

The dollar index rose to 108.28 before paring some gains and easing to 108.10, still well placed above the flat line, ganining about 0.45%.

Against the Euro, the dollar gained, firming to 1.0409 from 1.0430. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar strengthened to 1.2509 before paring some gains. Still, at 1.2535, the dollar was up nearly 0.3% a little while ago.

The dollar climbed against the Japanese currency, rising to 157.13 yen a unit. Against the Aussie, the dollar gained marginally at 0.6249.

The Swiss franc weakened to 0.8987 a unit of the U.S. currency. Against the Loonie, the dollar edged down a bit to C$1.4371.