Dollar Turns In Mixed Performance Against Major Rivals

(RTTNews) - After staying weak till about an hour past noon, the U.S. dollar made some progress up north on Tuesday, but a significant uptick still remained elusive as traders looked for direction.

The U.S. dollar was notably lower in the Asian session on Wednesday, and despite seeing a gradual recovery thereafter, still stayed somewhat sluggish with traders tracking Covid-related news from China, and looking ahead to the crucial jobs data, due later in the week.

Hawkish comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and New York Fed President John Williams helped the dollar's cause a bit. Both Bullard and Williams reiterated their hawkish stance on further rate hikes.

Optimism surrounding China's reopening offset rate-hike fears and weighed on the greenback. China reported a slight dip in new COVID-19 infections and also stepped-up support for the country's property sector.

In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing a modest decrease in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of November.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dipped to 100.2 in November from a revised 102.2 in October. Economists had expected the index to slip to 100.0 from the 102.5 originally reported for the previous month.

The modest decrease by the headline index came as the present situation index edged down to 137.4 in November from 138.7 in October.

The dollar index, which dropped to 106.06 in the Asian session, climbed to 106.88, gaining nearly 0.2%.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0327, after having weakened to 1.0396 earlier in the day.

The dollar is up marginally against Pound Sterling at $1.1951.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar is weak at 138.69 yen, compared with 138.93 yen on Monday.

The dollar is weak against the Aussie at 0.6688, easing from 0.6653.

Against Swiss franc, the dollar has firmed to CHF 0.9535, up nearly 0.5% over the previous close.

The dollar is stronger against the loonie, fetching C$1.3580 a unit, compared with C$1.3469 on Monday.