U.S. Dollar Advances Amid Renewed Gulf Tensions, ADP Data Release

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Dollar value edged higher after fresh attacks in the gulf renewed war concerns while private jobs data from the U.S. showed an increase of 122,000 in May, exceeding expectations.

The U.S. Dollar Index, DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies was last seen trading at 99.53, up by 0.24 (or 0.24%) today.

While against the Euro, USD was trading at 1.160, up by 0.28%, against the GBP, it was trading at 1.342, up by 0.36%.

Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 160.074, down by 0.10% and the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.792, down by 0.63%.

Against the USD, the Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.390, down by 0.42%. The S&P Global Canada Composite Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 50.80 in May from 49.90 in April while the Services PMI eased to 50.70 from 51.00 of the previous month.

Against one unit of Australian Dollar, USD was trading at 0.713, up by 0.73%. The Australian economy expanded 0.30% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026, below expectations of a 0.50% increase, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.

As the U.S.-Israel versus Iran war entered day number 96 today, new attacks in the Middle East increased concerns of escalation of hostilities.

The strikes tempered expectations of an imminent U.S.-Iran agreement to explore ways to resolve their differences through dialogue process.

Last week, Axios reported that a Memorandum of Understanding was ready pending the approval of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israel conducted attacks on Lebanon despite a mutually agreed ceasefire.

Following this, Iran paused the exchange of communications with the U.S., according to Iran's state-run news agencies.

Trump refuted these claims and maintained that talks were going on without any interruption.

Meanwhile, in an attack of self-defense, U.S. forces stationed near Iran conducted an attack on Qeshm Island of Iran.

In retaliation, Iran carried out strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti attacks led to the death of one person in Kuwait International Airport, leaving more than 60 injured.

With a peace deal remaining elusive, the uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz reopening increased, and consequently pushed oil prices higher.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which represents 38 industrialized countries, downgraded its global growth outlook for 2026 from its previous estimate of 2.90% to 2.80%, citing rising energy prices, persistent inflation, and geopolitical tensions.

The Automatic Data Processing released its data on private businesses in the U.S. which showed a net addition of 122,000 jobs in May, above forecasts of 117,000.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees added 67,000 new hires, those with 500 or more added 40,000, and medium-sized firms added 17,000.

These stronger-than-expected job numbers supported the U.S. dollar value.

Traders are now focused on the moves of Kevin Warsh who replaced Jerome Powell as Chair of U.S. Federal Reserve, last week.

In addition, the upcoming nonfarm payroll data to be released this Friday is anticipated to derive clues on the Fed's monetary policy trajectory.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, investors are betting at a slim 1.60% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting on June 16-17.