WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The dollar is up slightly against all of its major rivals Tuesday afternoon. Consumer confidence data came in weaker than expected this morning, but traders appear to be looking forward to some important data in the next two days. GDP and international trade are slated for Wednesday, while weekly jobless claims and consumer sentiment are set for Thursday.
Concerns over a potential trade war eased following reports that the U.S. and China are willing to negotiate trade-related issues and avert a potential trade war. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang indicated that the U.S. and China should maintain negotiations to resolve trade differences.
Consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of March, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dipped to 127.7 in March from a downwardly revised 130.0 in February.
The drop surprised economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 131.0 from the 130.8 originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar dipped to over a 1-month low of $1.2476 against the Euro Tuesday morning, but has since climbed to around $1.24.
Eurozone economic confidence deteriorated for the third consecutive month to a six-month low in March, but remained at an elevated level.
The economic confidence index fell more-than-expected to 112.6 in March from 114.2 in February, survey data from the European Commission showed Tuesday. This was the lowest since September and below the expected score of 113.3.
Eurozone money supply grew at a slower pace in February, figures from the European Central Bank showed Tuesday. The broad monetary aggregate M3 climbed 4.2 percent year-on-year in February, weaker than the 4.5 percent rise seen in January. The expected growth was 4.6 percent.
Germany's import prices decreased for the first time in more than a year in February, figures from Destatis showed Tuesday.
Import prices dropped 0.6 percent year-on-year in February, in contrast to January's 0.7 percent increase. This was the first decrease since October 2016 and bigger than the expected 0.3 percent fall.
Further, data showed that export prices grew 0.5 percent on year in February after gaining 0.7 percent a month ago. At the same time, prices remained flat on month versus January's 0.3 percent increase.
The buck rose to a high of $1.4066 against the pound sterling Tuesday, but has since eased back to around $1.4160.
The greenback slipped to a low of Y105.446 against the pound sterling Tuesday, but has since rebounded to around Y105.660.
Producer prices in Japan were up 0.6 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday. That was shy of expectations for 0.78 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading.
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