Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports, while the recent announcement of a bailout deal for Cyprus continued to mildly support market sentiment.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.20% to 1.2878.
The single currency remained supported after euro zone finance ministers on Monday rubber stamped a EUR10 billion international bailout for Cyprus that will see the closure of the country's second largest lender Laiki Bank and inflict heavy losses deposits of more than EUR100,000.
Investors remained cautious however after Eurogroup head, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said that the rescue program agreed for Cyprus represents a new model for resolving euro zone banking problems and other countries may have to restructure their banking sectors.
He later appeared to backtrack, saying Cyprus was a specific case with exceptional challenges.
The greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.10% to 1.5164.
The pound came under pressure after the Confederation of British Industry said earlier that its index of realized sales fell unexpectedly to zero in March, from a reading of 8 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 12 this month.
Elsewhere, the greenback was steady against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.01% to trade at 94.16, and with USD/CHF dipping 0.06% to 0.9480.
The yen remained under pressure after the new Bank of Japan Governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, earlier reaffirmed his commitment to bold monetary easing to achieve 2% inflation.
The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.41% to 1.0170, AUD/USD rising 0.29% to 1.0495 and NZD/USD gaining 0.34% to 0.8379.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.16% to 82.93.
In the U.S., the Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment fell unexpectedly in March, sliding down to 59.7 from a reading of 68.0 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged this month.
A separate report showed that new home sales in the U.S. rose 411,000 in February, disappointing expectations for a 422,000 increase, after a 431,000 rise the previous month.
The Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller composite 20 house price index rose to an annualized rate of 8.1% in January, from 6.8% the previous month, beating expectations for a rise to 7.9%.
In addition, the Census Bureau said that U.S. core durable goods orders fell 0.5% in February, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% rise, after a 2.9% increase the previous month.
However, durable goods orders, including transportation items, rose 5.7% last month, more than the expected 3.8% increase, following a 3.8% decline in January.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
