1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar falls on mixed data

The U.S. dollar decreased against other major currencies on Tuesday as economic data of the country came out mixed.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that new orders for manufactured durable goods declined 3.4 percent to 230. 5 billion dollars in December 2014 from the previous month. The latest reading missed analysts' estimate of a 0.7 percent rise.

S&P Dow Jones Indices released the latest results for the S&P/ Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, a leading measure of U.S. home prices on Tuesday. Data released for November 2014 showed a continued slowdown in home prices nationwide except nine cities.

However, U.S. consumer confidence was up sharply in January with the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index registered 102. 9, the highest level since August 2007, up from 93.1 in December 2014, the Conference Board said on Tuesday.

The greenback pared gains as investors were awaiting the two- day Federal Reserve meeting scheduled to conclude on Wednesday to get more clues about when the central bank would raise interest rates. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.78 percent at 94.067 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1367 dollars from 1.1266 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.5201 dollars from 1.5077 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7938 dollar from 0.7918 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 117.80 Japanese yen, lower than 118.47 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar went down to 0.8993 Swiss francs from 0.9004 Swiss francs, and it decreased to 1.2396 Canadian dollars from 1.2455 Canadian dollars. Endite