Investing.com - The dollar extended gains to hit fresh two-month highs against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as hopes for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year continued to lend broad support the greenback.
EUR/USD dropped 0.50% to fresh two-month lows of 1.1079.
Demand for the U.S. dollar remained supported as Friday’s disappointing U.S. jobs data was not expected to prevent the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates later this year.
In the euro zone, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment rose to 6.2 this month from September’s reading of 0.5. Analysts had expected the index to increase to 4.3 in October.
Additionally, the index of euro zone economic sentiment increased to 12.3 in October from 5.4 a month earlier. Consensus was looking for an increase to 6.3.
GBP/USD declined 0.64% to trade at a 31-year low of 1.2283.
The pound remained under broad selling pressure amid sustained concerns over a ‘hard Brexit’ for Britain.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY edged up 0.15% to 103.76, while USD/CHF gained 0.45% to 0.9870.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.78% at 0.7549 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.81% to 0.7077.
Earlier Tuesday, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index remained unchanged at 6 in September.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.30% to trade at 1.3214.
The commodity-related loonie weakened as oil prices moved back lower on Tuesday, although hopes for an OPEC-led production cut still lent support.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.50% at 97.39, the highest since July 27.