Investing.com - The dollar turned higher against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after another upbeat U.S. employment report added to optimism over the strength of the job market and the U.S. economy.
The greenback was boosted after the U.S. Labor Department said that the number of job openings, excluding the farming industry, settled at a record-high 6.163 million in June from 5.702 million a month earlier, which was revised from the original reading of 5.666 million.
Analysts had expected the number of job openings to increase to 5.775 million at the end of the second quarter from May’s initial reading.
The report came after Friday’s strong nonfarm payrolls data, which fueled expectations the Federal Reserve will stick to its plans for a third interest rate hike this year.
Investors were now eyeing U.S. inflation reports later in the week for indications of whether the recovery in the dollar is sustainable in the longer term.
EUR/USD declined 0.39% to 1.1748.
Data earlier showed that German exports fell by 2.8% in June, snapping five months of gains. It was the biggest drop since August 2015.
German imports dropped by 4.5%, the largest decline since January 2009. That drove Germany’s trade surplus up to €21.1 billion, from €20.3 billion in May, a 10-month high.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD dropped 0.59% to 1.2957, just off the previous session’s one-and-a-half week low of 1.3014.
USD/JPY held steady at 110.76, while USD/CHF gained 0.34% to 0.9757.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars turned lower, with AUD/USD down 0.21% at 0.7896 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.53% to 0.7322.
Earlier Tuesday, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index rose to 12 in July from a reading of 9 the previous month.
Separately, official data showed that China’s exports increased by 7.2% in July and imports climbed 11.0%. Both readings were slightly below analysts’s projections
China is Australia’s biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD added 0.13% to trade at 1.2696, not far from Monday’s three-week high of 1.2714.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.36% at a fresh one-week high of 93.66.