Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after data showed that U.S. durable goods orders fell more than expected in April, while core orders topped forecasts.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, declined by 0.5% last month, compared to expectations for a drop of 0.4%.
Orders for durable goods in March were revised up to a gain of 5.1% gain from a previously reported increase of 4.7%.
Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, inched up 0.5% in April, beating forecasts for an increase of 0.4%.
Core durable goods orders rose 0.6% in March, whose figure was revised up from previously reported gain of 0.3%.
The greenback remained broadly supported after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reiterated Friday that the bank still expects to start raising interest rates later in the year if the economy continues to improve as expected.
She attributed a slowdown in first quarter growth to "transitory factors", including a harsh winter, but reiterated that the timing of an initial rate hike would be data dependent.
USD/JPY hit highs of 123.00, the most since July 2007 and was last at 123.01, up 1.22% for the day.
The dollar’s gains came as markets reopened following a long holiday weekend, after markets in the U.K., Germany and the U.S. remained closed on Monday.
The euro was at one-month lows against the greenback, with EUR/USD down 0.65% to 1.0907.
The euro remained under heavy selling pressure as the prospect of a Greek default continued to weigh.
Athens has warned that the country would be unable to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund due on June 5 if a cash-for-reforms deal with its international lenders is not reached by then.
The pound and the Swiss franc were also weaker, with GBP/USD down 0.49% to 1.5394 and USD/CHF rising 0.36% to 0.9487.
The commodity-linked currencies were broadly lower, with AUD/USD sliding 0.63% to 0.7775 and NZD/USD dropping 0.48% to trade at 0.7275.
USD/CAD was up 0.67% to 1.2394.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at five-week highs of 97.12.