US dollar rallies after Fed chair nominee's comments

The US dollar rose against most other major currencies after US Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell said he expected the central bank to continue monetary tightening and to ease regulatory burdens on financial system.

"If confirmed, I would strive, along with my colleagues, to support the economy's continued progress toward full recovery," said Powell in remarks to be delivered at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

"We expect interest rates to rise somewhat further and the size of our balance sheet to gradually shrink," he added.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.45 per cent at 93.318 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1839 from $1.1899 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to $1.3376 from $1.3317 in the previous session. The Australian dollar lost to $0.7597 from $0.7607.

The US dollar bought 111.55 Japanese yen, higher than 111.02 yen of the previous session.

The US dollar climbed to 0.9844 Swiss franc from 0.9813 Swiss franc, and it moved up to 1.2816 Canadian dollars from 1.2763 Canadian dollars.

Powell, who is currently a member of the Fed's Board of Governors, was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace chair Janet Yellen, whose term as chair expires in February 2018. He is expected to face smooth confirmation at the Senate.

On the economic front, the international trade deficit came in at $68.3 billion in October, up $4.2 billion from $64.1 billion in September, the US Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price NSA Index reported on Tuesday a 6.2 per cent annual gain in September, up from 5.9 per cent in the previous month.

--IANS

pgh/