Investing.com – The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Monday as the U.S. Senate approved a tax bill, while a slump in the pound on reports of a no brexit deal lifted sentiment on the greenback.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.44% at 93.22.
US senators passed a tax bill aimed at overhauling the U.S. tax system for the first time in three decades. It was passed by 51 votes to 49. The Senate and the House of Representatives is expected to get talks underway this week to reconcile their respective bills.
The tax cuts, widely viewed as inflationary, boosted the dollar to session highs amid economic data showing factory orders for October topped expectations, raising expectations of the underlying strength of the US economy.
Factory goods orders fell 0.1% amid a drop in demand for both civilian and defense aircraft, the Commerce Department said on Monday.
The risk-on trade weighed on both the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc as the USD/JPY rose 0.58% to Y112.84, while the USD/CHF rose 1.05% to 0.9866.
Also boosting the dollar was a slump in sterling after Britain and the EU failed to reach an agreement to move to the next stage of brexit talks. European Commission President Jean Claude Junker said “it was not possible to reach a complete agreement today.”
GBP/USD fell 0.18% to $1.447.
EUR/USD fell 0.42% to $1.1846, while EUR/GBP fell 0.27% to £0.8807.
USD/CAD rose 0.16% to $1.2704 as traders looked ahead to the Bank of Canada rate decision this week, widely expected to remain unchanged at 1%.