Investing.com - The dollar held onto gains against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as the release of upbeat U.S. retail sales data boosted optimism over the strength of the economy and as investors eyed the Federal Reserve’s monthly policy meeting due to begin later in the day.
USD/JPY slipped 0.24% to 106.01, off a fresh one-and-a-half month low of 105.63 hit earlier in the day.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales increased by 0.5% last month, compared to the forecast for a rise of 0.3%. Retail sales for April rose 1.3%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, increased by 0.4% in May, in line with forecasts. Core sales in April gained 0.8%.
Markets have pushed back expectations on the timing of the next rate hike by the U.S. central bank after a dismal U.S. employment report for May, which showed the slowest rate of jobs growth since September 2010.
EUR/USD declined 0.84% to 1.1197, the lowest since June 2.
The dollar was higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD down 1.17% at a fresh two-month low of 1.4103 and with USD/CHF adding 0.13% at 0.9656.
The pound extended earlier losses after a TNS poll showed that the Leave campaign held 47% of the vote, compared with 40% for Remain. Undecided voters totaled 13%, TNS said.
Earlier Tuesday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of inflation remained steady at 0.3% in May, slightly below economists’ expectations for an increase of 0.4%.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food costs, remained steady at 1.2%, falling slightly short of forecasts for a 1.3% increase.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.42% at 0.7357 and with NZD/USD declining 0.75% to 0.7007.
Earlier Tuesday, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index fell to 3 in May from a reading of 5 the previous month.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD edged up 0.12% to a one-week high of 1.2852.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.70% at 95.08, the highest since June 3.