Investing.com - The dollar firmed against most major currencies on Tuesday after solid U.S. housing, consumer confidence and wholesale pricing data sparked fresh expectations that the Federal Reserve remains on track to wind down greenback-weakening monetary stimulus programs this year.
In U.S. trading on Tuesday, EUR/USD was down 0.07% at 1.3637.
The Conference Board reported earlier that its consumer confidence index rose to 83.0 this month from 81.7 in April, in line with market expectations.
Elsewhere, the Standard & Poor’s/ Case-Shiller house price index rose 12.4% in March from a year earlier, beating forecasts for a gain of 11.8% and following a rise of 12.9% in February.
Healthy wholesale pricing data firmed the greenback as well.
The Commerce Department reported earlier U.S. durable goods orders rose 0.8% in April, confounding expectations for a 0.5% fall, after a 3.6% increase in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated 2.9% rise.
Core durable goods orders, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, rose 0.1% last month, missing expectations for a 0.3% increase. Core durable goods orders in March were revised up to a 2.9% gain from a previously estimated 2.4% rise.
Tuesday's data renewed market expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue winding down stimulus measures this year provided recovery remains on track.
Fed stimulus tools such as monthly bond purchases weaken the dollar by suppressing long-term interest rates, sending investors to stocks instead in hopes investing and hiring follow rising equities prices.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic Ocean, sentiment on the euro remained fragile after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank will do everything feasible for the euro zone economy within its mandate, comments that fueled expectations for additional easing measures.
On Monday, Mario Draghi said the ECB is ready to act should it see signs of a negative inflation spiral taking hold, and indicated that the bank is weighing a wide range of policy options, including interest rate cuts, and liquidity injections or broad-based asset purchases to help shore up the fragile recovery in the euro area.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.03% at 101.96 and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.23% at 0.8966.
The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.18% at 1.6812.
In the U.K., industry data released earlier showed that mortgage approvals rose by 42,200 last month, missing expectations for a 45,200 increase. Mortgage approvals in March were revised down to a 45,000 rise from a previously estimated 45,900 increase.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD flat at 1.0859, AUD/USD up 0.25% at 0.9260 and NZD/USD down 0.04% at 0.8547.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.06% at 80.39.