AFP, Singapore :
The dollar rose in Asian trade Tuesday on fresh expectations the US central bank may raise interest rates in the second half of the year, analysts said.
The euro bought $1.1137 in afternoon Singapore trade, down from $1.1146 in New York late Monday. The dollar also rose to 120.15 yen from 120.14 yen in volatile trade.
Against the Japanese currency, the euro was changing hands at 133.67 yen from 133.92.
Trading however was thin as the Japanese market was closed for a public holiday.
Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG Markets in Singapore, said the dollar got a boost from “fresh expectations that the Fed rate hike in the second half of this year is back on the table after good employment numbers last week”.
Weekly claims for US unemployment insurance benefits plunged to their lowest level in 15 years in the week to April 25, according to the US Labor Department.
It said initial jobless claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs across the country, dropped by 34,000 from the previous week to 262,000, the lowest level since April 2000.
US factory orders also rebounded in March after seven straight months of declines, pushed higher by commercial and defence aircraft orders, the Commerce Department said on Monday.
Doubts about the timing of a raise in ultra-low US interest rates had emerged after figures showed the world’s biggest economy expanded by just 0.2 percent in the first quarter, well below expectations, weighed down by an exceptionally cold winter.
