Dollar Rises Again As Traders Await Powell's Speech

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar firmed against its major counterparts on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, with investors awaiting Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the week for more clarity on interest rate outlook.

Dollar found support from Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari's comments that he's not convinced rate hikes are over.

Weak U.K., eurozone and Chinese data pushed up the demand for the safe-haven U.S. currency.

Fed Chair Powell is due to deliver opening remarks at the Division of Research and Statistics Centennial Conference on Wednesday and participate in a policy panel discussion before the 24th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference on Thursday.

Traders are likely to pay close attention to Powell's remarks, looking for additional confirmation the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future.

In U.S. economic news today, a report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit widened by more than expected in the month of September.

The report said the trade deficit increased to $61.5 billion in September from a revised $58.7 billion in August. Economists had expected the trade deficit to climb to $60.2 billion from the $58.3 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The dollar index surged to 105.78 around mid morning, and despite easing to 105.52, remains firm with a gain of about 0.3%.

Against the Euro, the dollar strengthened to 1.0700, and against Pound Sterling, it firmed to 1.2298, gaining from 1.2342.

The dollar climbed higher against the Japanese currency, fetching 150.42 yen a unit. Against the Aussie, the dollar strengthened to 0.6435. The dollar moved up marginally against Swiss franc to CHF 0.9000. Against the Loonie, the dollar rallied to C$1.3768 as oil prices fell sharply on worries about the outlook for energy demand.