Investing.com - The U.S. dollar hit a seven month high against the yen on Tuesday and remained steady against the euro, amid guarded hopes that euro zone finance ministers would agree to release Greece’s next tranche of bailout funds.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.04% to 1.2806.
Investors remained cautiously optimistic as euro zone finance ministers began talks in Brussels to discuss whether Greece can receive its next aid installment.
The single currency touched session lows against the greenback earlier after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded France by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa with a negative outlook overnight, citing a deteriorating growth outlook for the euro zone’s second-largest economy.
The greenback hit its highest level since April against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.33% to 81.67.
Investors dumped the yen amid expectations that elections on December 16 will result in growing political pressure on the Bank of Japan to implement more aggressive monetary easing measures.
The BoJ kept the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at JPY91 trillion following its policy-setting meeting earlier Tuesday, in a widely expected decision, after easing policy in September and October.
The greenback was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.03% to 1.5912 and was slightly higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.11% to 0.9409.
The greenback was broadly higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.12% to 0.9976, AUD/USD down 0.37% to 1.0372 and NZD/USD falling 0.57% to 0.8152.
The Canadian dollar was little changed earlier after official data showed that Canadian wholesale sales fell 1.4% in September, compared to expectations for a 0.3% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.14% to 81.01.
In the U.S., official data showed that housing starts rose 3.6% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.894 million, the fastest rate of increase in four years.
The number of building permits issued last month fell 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted 0.866 million.
Later Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak at an event in New York.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.04% to 1.2806.
Investors remained cautiously optimistic as euro zone finance ministers began talks in Brussels to discuss whether Greece can receive its next aid installment.
The single currency touched session lows against the greenback earlier after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded France by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa with a negative outlook overnight, citing a deteriorating growth outlook for the euro zone’s second-largest economy.
The greenback hit its highest level since April against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.33% to 81.67.
Investors dumped the yen amid expectations that elections on December 16 will result in growing political pressure on the Bank of Japan to implement more aggressive monetary easing measures.
The BoJ kept the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at JPY91 trillion following its policy-setting meeting earlier Tuesday, in a widely expected decision, after easing policy in September and October.
The greenback was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.03% to 1.5912 and was slightly higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.11% to 0.9409.
The greenback was broadly higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.12% to 0.9976, AUD/USD down 0.37% to 1.0372 and NZD/USD falling 0.57% to 0.8152.
The Canadian dollar was little changed earlier after official data showed that Canadian wholesale sales fell 1.4% in September, compared to expectations for a 0.3% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.14% to 81.01.
In the U.S., official data showed that housing starts rose 3.6% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.894 million, the fastest rate of increase in four years.
The number of building permits issued last month fell 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted 0.866 million.
Later Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak at an event in New York.