U.S. dollar climbs amid hopes for economic stimulus

The U.S. dollar strengthened on Tuesday as traders were hopeful that more efforts from governments and monetary policymakers would cushion the economic damage of the coronavirus.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 1.51 percent at 99.5654 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.1000 U.S. dollars from 1.1168 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2094 dollars from 1.2234 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar fell to 0.5992 U.S. dollar from 0.6126 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 107.82 Japanese yen, higher than 106.15 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9614 Swiss franc from 0.9470 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.4227 Canadian dollars from 1.3980 Canadian dollars.

The Trump administration on Tuesday expressed its intent to offer cash payments for working Americans as part of an economic stimulus package amid coronavirus fallout.

"We're looking at sending checks to Americans immediately," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at a White House press briefing.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.S. economy "may be" heading toward a recession and that the COVID-19 outbreak could last for months.

The Federal Reserve on Sunday cut its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point to near zero and pledged to boost its bond holdings by at least 700 billion U.S. dollars.