· The greenback was lifted as investors gained some hope that President Donald Trump could push through his expansionary fiscal agenda, after the Senate passed a motion to proceed on a repeal of Obamacare, which Trump and Republicans have vowed to undo.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies was 0.1 percent higher at 94.144 .DXY, managing to put some distance between a 13-month low of 93.638 plumbed on Tuesday.
The euro was 0.1 percent lower at $1.1638 EUR=, pulling back from a two-year high of $1.1712 hit on Tuesday on a stronger-than-expected German Ifo business survey.
The U.S. currency was last traded at 111.980 yen for a gain of 0.1 percent.
· The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index surged to 121.1 this month, the second highest reading since 2000, from 117.3 in June. The rise in confidence came despite the healthcare impasse in Washington. The index hit a 16-year high of 124.9 in March.
· U.S consumer confidence jumped to a near 16-year high in July amid optimism over the labor market while house prices maintained their upward trend in May, which could boost consumer spending after recent sluggishness.
The reports on Tuesday underscored the economy's strong fundamentals, expected to keep the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates for a third time this year.
· U.S. President Donald Trump named on Tuesday two possible candidates to run the Federal Reserve over the next few years: current Fed Chair Janet Yellen and Trump's economic adviser Gary Cohn, according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Yellen, whose four-year term expires in February, "is in the running, absolutely," to be renominated, Trump was quoted as saying.
· U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he hoped to finish work on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare by the end of this week.
· A final decision on a steel trade policy may have to wait until other top-priority issues on his agenda get addressed, U.S. President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Tuesday.
The administration would take time in making a decision on whether to block steel imports, Trump told the Journal, adding that "we don't want to do it at this moment
· U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was disappointed in Attorney General Jeff Sessions but he declined to say if he would fire him, according to the Wall Street Journal.
· Oil rose 3.3 percent on Tuesday to the highest close in more than a month, a day after U.S. oil producer Anadarko said it would cut capital spending plans and Saudi Arabia vowed to reduce crude exports to help curb global oversupply.
Brent crude futures rose $1.60 or 3.3 percent to settle at $50.20 a barrel, the first time the benchmark closed above $50 since June 6. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose $1.55 or 3.3 percent to settle at $47.89 a barrel, the highest close for that benchmark since early June.
· On Monday, Anadarko Petroleum Corp posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and said it would cut its 2017capital budget by $300 million because of depressed oil prices, the first major U.S. oil producer to do so.
Reference: Reuters
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