U.S. dollar ticks down as job openings dip in March

NEW YORK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar was down in late trading on Tuesday as U.S. job openings declined in March and traders were betting on Fed's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.20 percent at 101.9500 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1001 dollars from 1.0969 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.2469 dollars from 1.2487 U.S. dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 136.6540 Japanese yen, lower than 137.4590 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 0.8933 Swiss francs from 0.8962 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3620 Canadian dollars from 1.3540 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was down to 10.3017 Swedish Krona from 10.3359 Swedish Krona.

U.S. job openings declined to 9.590 million in March, down from a revised reading of 9.974 million in February, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. Economists expected a reading of 9.6 million. The level of job vacancies reached the lowest total since April 2021.

"The Fed should gain some comfort from the gradual decline in this ratio, but also is likely to see this data as reaffirming the need for another rate hike tomorrow," Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard, said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the new orders of manufactured goods increased by 0.9 percent in March month on month. The growth in February has been revised from negative 0.7 percent to negative 1.1 percent. Economists expected a growth of 1.1 percent.

The Federal Open Market Committee has around 85 percent probability of raising federal fund rates by another 25 basis points on Wednesday, lower than the 93.2 percent probability on Monday, according to data from the CME FedWatch Tool on Tuesday.

The Eurostat reported Tuesday that the flash harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) expanded 7.0 percent in April year on year, higher than the 6.9 percent reading in March but in line with economists' expectation. The core HICP grew 5.6 percent in April year on year, lower than 5.7 percent in March.