The U.S. dollar stayed fairly steady on Wednesday, scoring gains against some of its major counterparts, and drifting down a bit against some, as traders digested U.S. durable goods orders data, and awaited Q1 GDP data and a report on personal income and spending that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Fed.
Data released by the Commerce Department today showed durable goods orders soared by 2.6% in March after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7% in February.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to spike by 2.3% compared to the 1.3% jump that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding a surge in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders crept up by 0.2% in March after inching up by 0.1% in February. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.3%.
The dollar index climbed to 105.95 in the New York session before easing to 105.83, still holding well above the flat line.
Against the Euro, the dollar gained marginally at 1.700, and weakened to 1.2463 against Pound Sterling. The dollar was up against the Japanese currency, fetching 155.37 yen a unit, compared to 154.84 on Tuesday.
The dollar weakened to 0.6497 against the Aussie from 0.6487. Against Swiss franc, the dollar strengthened to CHF 0.9152, gaining from CHF 0.9119. The Loonie traded week against the greenback at C$ 1.3705, compared to C$ 1.3663 yesterday.
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