US dollar drops on political uncertainty

The US dollar declined against other major currencies on mounting uncertainties related to the next week's US presidential election.

In late New York trading on Tuesday, the euro rose to $1.1059 from $1.0977, and the British pound climbed to $1.2240 from $1.2228, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar increased to $0.7649 from $0.7611.

The dollar bought 104.00 Japanese yen, lower than 104.88 yen in the previous session.

The dollar inched down to 0.9745 Swiss francs from 0.9896 Swiss francs, and it dropped to 1.3385 Canadian dollars from 1.3406 Canadian dollars.

The greenback had been lingering at eight-month highs on market speculation for a rate-hike in December and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton winning the election.

However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a plan on Friday to probe newly-found emails related to Clinton, which has shaken investors' confidence in the outcome of November 8 election.

Clinton's lead over her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, has narrowed significantly since Friday's news broke, according to data from RealClearPolitics.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.77 per cent to 97.685 in late trading on Tuesday, the lowest level in almost three weeks.

--IANS

pgh/