Dollar holds firm ahead of U.S. durable goods, housing data

Dollar holds firm ahead of U.S. durable goods, housing data

By Rocky Swift

TOKYO (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar held its ground against major currencies on Tuesday as tension in Russia simmered and traders looked ahead to U.S. data that may determine the timing of interest rate hikes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he let an aborted mutiny go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, a crisis that pushed the greenback to a 15-month high against the rouble.

The dollar index rose 0.04% to 102.770. The rouble was flat at 84.40 per dollar after hitting its weakest level since March 2022.

The greenback traded at 143.43 yen, down 0.06% from late U.S. levels. Japanese officials have sounded the alarm in recent days over rapid weakening of the currency.

U.S. data this week include new orders for durable goods, housing figures, and consumer surveys from The Conference Board and University of Michigan.

Market participants expect the Federal Reserve to raise its funds target rate by 25 basis points in July, but the path beyond is less clear.

“We will have many U.S. indicators, which I think will be mixed, so there will be no strong momentum, at least today,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.

“Two more rate hikes are not fully priced in the market. If the U.S. economic data comes out on the strong side, then further pricing in for the two rate hikes will push up the dollar,” Yamamoto said.

The euro was flat at $1.09055 ahead of speeches by European Central Bank officials at the bank’s Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Australian dollar fetched $0.66815, up 0.10%, while the New Zealand dollar slid 0.08% to $0.6159.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift)