US dollar rises against euro on encouraging economic data

The US dollar rose against the euro on Tuesday as the economic data of the United States turned out better than expected. The U.S. dollar was boosted by upbeat economic data. U.S. home prices continued to rise in October, according to a report released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Data showed the 10-City and 20-City Composite posted year-over- year gains 13.6 percent, their highest gain since February 2006 and the 17th consecutive month that both composites increased on an annual basis. Meantime, U.S. consumer confidence rebounded more than expected in December, standing at 78.1 up from an upwardly revised level of 72.0 in November, the New York-based research organization Conference Board said in a report released Tuesday. The index also surpassed market expectation. The Federal Reserve said on Dec. 18 it would start reducing its monthly bond purchases in January to 75 billion dollars from 85 billion dollars amid an improving outlook for the jobs market. The U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield topped 3 percent on Tuesday, signaling improvement in the U.S. economy and the Fed will withdraw stimulus steadily. In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.3754 dollars from 1.3804 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.6560 dollars from 1.6521 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.8932 dollars from 0.8913 dollars. The dollar bought 105.26 Japanese yen, higher than 105.11 yen of the previous session. The greenback moved up to 0.8922 Swiss francs from 0.8872, and moved down to 1.063 Canadian dollars from 1.0644.