US dollar rallies on positive US data

The U.S. dollar gained against major currencies on Tuesday on upbeat U.S. housing and consumer confidence data and speculations that stimulus monetary policies will remain in Japan and the eurozone. U.S. home prices in March posted their highest annual gain since 2006, according to a report released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite for March rose 10.9 percent year on year, with all 20 cities posting positive year-over-year growth. Moreover, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 76.2 in May from a revised-up figure of 69.0 in the prior month. The May reading marked the highest level since February 2008. Japanese yen weakened versus the dollar as an adviser to Japan' s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Koichi Hamada said the Bank of Japan ( BOJ) can add to its monetary easing measures further if necessary to support economic recovery. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda should continue to trust in his judgment and ease further if needed, said the advisor. Meanwhile, several members of the European Central Bank Executive Board expressed opinions that the bank should further cut interest rates if necessary, which weighed heavily on the euro. On the other hand, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week in testimony to the Congress that "if we see continued improvement, and we have confidence that that is going to be sustained, in the next few meetings we could take a step down in our pace of purchases." In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2875 dollars from 1.2933 of the previous session and the British pound dropped to 1. 5063 dollars from 1.5136. The Australian dollar slipped to 0.9640 dollars from 0.9655. The dollar bought 102.08 Japanese yen, higher than 100.99 yen of the previous session. It edged up to 0.9733 Swiss francs from 0. 9597 and went up to 1.0385 Canadian dollars from 1.0319 of the previous trading day.