Dollar Near Month High as Economic Gains Boost Fed Tapering Bets

Bloomberg, (2/7) -- The dollar was 0.5 percent from the highest level in almost a month against the euro as signs of improvement in the U.S. economy buoyed speculation the Federal Reserve will soon start scaling back asset purchases. The greenback was supported before a report today that may show factory orders gained by the most in three months, and ahead of data this week forecast to indicate a decline in the unemployment rate as companies in the world’s biggest economy continued to add jobs. The Australian dollar weakened after an advance yesterday that was the biggest in two weeks before the Reserve Bank announces a policy decision today. The dollar fetched $1.3053 per euro as of 11:22 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.3064 yesterday. It touched $1.2985 on June 26, the strongest level since June 3. The greenback bought 99.55 yen from 99.66 yesterday, when it touched 99.86, the strongest since June 5. Europe’s shared currency traded at 129.95 yen after earlier climbing to 130.27, the highest since June 11. The Australian dollar lost 0.3 percent to 92.14 U.S. cents following a 1.1 percent advance yesterday, the biggest one-day gain since June 13.