U.S. dollar rises on economic data

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major peers on Tuesday as investors were digesting a batch of economic data from the country.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 5.9-percent annual gain in January, up from 5.7 percent last month and setting a 31-month high.

The international trade deficit was 64.8 billion U.S. dollars in February, down 4.1 billion dollars from the figure of January, said the U.S. Commerce Department Tuesday.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index came in at 125.6 in March, up from 116.1 in February and well above market consensus.

Analysts said the data was overall positive and supported the greenback on Tuesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.56 percent at 99.720 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0800 dollars from 1.0873 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound declined to 1.2444 dollars from 1.2572 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar inched up to 0.7634 dollar from 0.7616 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 111.15 Japanese yen, higher than 110.47 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar increased to 0.9931 Swiss franc from 0.9846 Swiss franc, and it stayed flat at 1.3382 Canadian dollars. Endit