Dollar Turns Weak Against Major Counterparts Ahead Of Fed Policy

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar drifted lower on Tuesday, losing ground against most of its major counterparts, as traders awaited the monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

Traders also digested the latest batch of economic data.

The Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points. The focus will be on the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.5% chance the Fed will raise rates by 25 basis points and a 72.9% chance the central bank will subsequently leave rates unchanged in June.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the Treasury might run out of money to cover obligations as soon as June 1.

In economic releases, a report released by the Labor Department showed job openings in the U.S. fell by more than expected in the month of March.

The Labor Department said job openings decreased to 9.590 million in March from an upwardly revised 9.974 million in February. With the drop, job openings fell to their lowest level since April 2021.

Economists had expected job openings to decline to 9.775 million from the 9.931 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department released a report showed factory orders advanced by 0.9% in March after slumping by a revised 1.1% in February. Economists had expected factory orders to climb by 0.8% compared to the 0.7% decrease originally reported for the previous month.

The dollar index, which climbed to 102.40, dropped to 101.88, losing more than 0.25%.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.1003 from 1.0976.

The dollar is weak against Pound Sterling at 1.2471, about 0.2% down from Monday's close of 1.2497.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar has eased to 136.54 yen from 137.48 yen

The dollar is weak at 0.6665 against the Aussie. The monetary board of the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to hike the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 3.85 percent. Markets widely expected the apex bank to leave the rate unchanged today.

Against Swiss franc, the dollar weakened to CHF 0.8931 from CHF 0.8955. The dollar is up against loonie at C$1.3626 as oil prices tumbled on concerns about outlook for energy demand.