US dollar climbs against other major currencies

The U.S. dollar gained against other major currencies as its economic data came in better than expected. A string of data released on Tuesday revealed that the U.S. housing market is continuing to improve. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed that average home prices rose 2.6 percent and 2.5 percent for the 10-City Composites and 20-City Composites from March to April, their record monthly gains. U.S. house price appreciation continued in April, rising 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). Aside from house price gains, U.S. new home sales also rallied. Sales of new single-family houses in May added 2.1 percent from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 476,000, the highest level since July 2008. New order for manufactured durable goods in May climbed 3.6 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said. It's a fresh sign of a pickup in economic activity. Furthermore,U.S. consumer confidence in June climbed to the highest level in more than five years, said a survey released Tuesday by the research institute Conference Board. Consumer spending accounts for approximately 70 percent of the world's largest economy. The stronger-than-forecast economic data spurred speculation that Federal Reserve will reduce bond purchases. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke said last Wednesday that the Fed may start tapering its pace of bond purchases later this year, and may end them around the mid of 2014, if the economy continues to improve. In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.3090 dollars from 1.3123 dollars of the previous session and the British pound decreased to 1.5425 dollars from 1.5442 dollars. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.9262 dollars from 0.9274 dollars. The dollar bought 97.76 Japanese yen, higher than 97.72 yen of the previous session. It edged up to 0.9377 Swiss francs from 0. 9330 Swiss francs and moved up to 1.0517 Canadian dollars from 1. 0495 Canadian dollars.