US dollar rises against most currencies

The US dollar index increased against most other major currencies as investors bought the dip after the previous day's sharp decline.

In late New York trading on Monday, the euro fell to $1.1691 from $1.1725 in the previous session, and the British pound was down to $1.3101 from $1.3135 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar dipped to $0.7378 from $0.7425.

The US dollar bought 111.49 Japanese yen, lower than 111.55 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar gained to 0.9931 Swiss franc from 0.9926 Swiss franc, and it rose to 1.3174 Canadian dollars from 1.3127 Canadian dollars.

On Friday, the dollar index traded about 0.70 per cent lower in late trading amid US President Donald Trump's criticism about the Federal Reserve's current monetary tightening.

Trump said that he was "not thrilled" that the US central bank is raising interest rates as the economy improves, adding that the Fed's policy tightening and the strong dollar could hurt the US economy.

On the economic front, US existing home sales fell for a third straight month in June as ongoing supply and demand imbalance pushed median sales price to a new all-time high.

The National Association of Realtors said on Monday that total existing-home sales decreased 0.6 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million in June from a downwardly revised 5.41 million in May. With last month's decline, sales are now 2.2 per cent below a year ago.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.20 per cent at 94.667 in late trading.

--IANS

pgh/