Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after data showing that U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly jumped in September to more than a nine-year high boosted optimism over the strength of the economy.
EUR/USD dropped 0.52% to trade at 1.1196.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index increased to 104.1 this month from a reading of 101.8 in August, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 101.1. That was its highest level since August 2007.
Analysts had expected the index to slip to 99.0 in September.
The greenback also found support as analysts considered that Hillary Clinton did better than her rival Donald Trump during Monday night’s Presidential debate.
Markets tend to see Clinton as a status quo candidate, while few are sure what a Trump presidency might mean for international trade deals or the U.S. economy.
USD/JPY held steady at 100.36.
The pound was also little changed, with GBP/USD at 1.2983, close to Friday’s six-week low of 1.2912, while USD/CHF rose 0.25% to 0.9717.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.30% at 0.7658 and with NZD/USD gaining 0.26% to 0.7293.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD edged up 0.10% to trade at 1.3239, after hitting a fresh six-month high of 1.3281 earlier in the day.
The commodity currencies were hit by dropping oil prices on Tuesday, following reports differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran remained too wide to achieve a production freeze deal this week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.36% at 95.55.