U.S. dollar declines on soft data

The U.S. dollar decreased against other major currencies on Tuesday as economic data from the country came out worse than expected.

U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, a crucial indicator of inflation level, rose 0.1 percent in June, lower than market consensus of a 0.2-percent gain, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The report showed the U.S. inflation was still below the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target with year-on-year core PCE index registering at 1.6 percent in June.

Recent soft economic data added to investors' concerns that the U.S. central bank may not raise interest rates soon, which weighed on the greenback on Tuesday.

Moreover, the Japanese yen rose nearly 1.6 percent against the dollar to three-week highs after the Japanese cabinet approved an economic stimulus package worth 274 billion U.S. dollars on Tuesday to support Japan's sluggish economy.

Analysts said the yen rallied on the easing moves because they were perceived as less aggressive than anticipated.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.73 percent at 95.016 in late trading, the lowest level in five weeks.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1232 dollars from 1.1169 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.3352 dollars from 1.3193 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7610 dollars from 0.7565 dollars.

The dollar bought 100.79 Japanese yen, lower than 102.31 yen of the previous session. The dollar dipped to 0.9636 Swiss francs from 0.9679 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.3089 Canadian dollars from 1.3095 Canadian dollars. Endit