Investing.com - The dollar held near one-week lows against a basket of other major currencies on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. consumer confidence jumped to the highest level in seven years this month as sentiment on the greenback was fragile ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy statement.
The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index jumped to 94.5 this month from 89 in September, boosted by a more favorable assessment of the current job market and business conditions.
Economists had expected the index to tick down to 87.0 this month.
Earlier Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders fell 1.3% in September from August, compared to expectations for a 0.5% increase.
Core durable goods orders, which strip out volatile transportation items, slid 0.2% in September, missing forecasts for a 0.5% gain. It was the largest decline in eight months.
The data came as investors were looking ahead to the conclusion of the Fed's two day policy meeting on Wednesday, amid concerns that slowing growth in Europe and China could prompt the U.S. central bank to stick to its cautious outlook on monetary policy.
The Fed was likely to announce the conclusion of its asset purchasing stimulus program, known as quantitative easing, but was also expected to reassure markets that interest rates will remain on hold for some time to come.
The euro pushed higher against the dollar, with EUR/USD gaining 0.33% to 1.2742, while the yen remained moderately lower, with USD/JPY adding 0.16% to trade at 107.98.
Elsewhere, the dollar fell against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.26% at 1.6163 and with USD/CHF sliding 0.32% to 0.9464.
The Australian dollar rose to almost three-week highs, with AUD/USD climbing 0.56% to 0.8851. Meanwhile, NZD/USD advanced 0.47% to trade at 0.7931 and USD/CAD declined 0.67% to 1.1171.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.26% to a one-week low of 85.39.