Investing.com – The dollar continued its comeback from a two-and-a-half-year slump, buoyed by a pair of economic reports that topped economists’ forecasts, raising investor expectations for solid third-quarter economic growth.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.39% to 92.63.
The dollar continued to rebound from a two-and-a-half year slump sustained on Monday, after private payrolls and gross domestic product data topped forecasts.
ADP employment data for August estimated private-sector payrolls rose by 237,000 compared a consensus estimates of 185,000.
The stronger-than-expected private payrolls report, which often serves as a precursor to monthly nonfarm payrolls data slated for Friday, pointed to continued strength in the U.S. labor market, easing expectations the Federal Reserve may abandon its plan to hike rates later this year.
The Commerce Department raised its estimate of second-quarter GDP growth to an annual rate of 3% from 2.6% previously, beating economists’ forecasts of 2.8%.
The rebound in the greenback pegged back the euro, a day after the single currency soared above $1.20 on the back of expectations that the ECB will announce plans at its autumn meeting to taper its bond-buying programme.
EUR/USD fell 0.58% to $1.1903 while EUR/GBP dipped 0.58% to £0.9294.
The greenback pared losses against safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc, following a dip in geopolitical tensions, as traders weighed President Donald Trump’s somewhat measured response to North Korea’s missile launch over Japan.
USD/JPY rose 0.55% to Y110.30 while USD/CHF gained 0.65% to 0.9205.
GBP/USD added 0.08% to $1.2931 while USD/CAD surged 0.85% to C$1.2616.