Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was down against almost all of its major counterparts on Tuesday, as the euro and the pound both extended gains against the greenback, boosted by strong economic data. During European early afternoon trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD surging 0.82% to hit 1.3402. Earlier Tuesday, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said its index of German economic sentiment jumped to a six-month high in January. The greenback was also down against sterling with GBP/USD rising 0.66% to hit 1.5991. Earlier in the day, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of CPI rose to 3.7% in December from 3.3% in November, much higher than forecasts for a steady reading. Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.14% to hit 82.55 and USD/CHF falling 0.51% to hit 0.9597. Earlier Tuesday, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japanese industrial production grew 1% in November, confirming the original estimate. Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian and Australian counterparts but up against its New Zealand cousin, with USD/CAD shedding 0.28% to hit 0.984, AUD/USD rising 0.36% to hit 0.9973 and NZD/USD dipping 0.03% to hit 0.7718. On Tuesday, economists from Australia & New Zealand Banking Group estimated the total cost of the huge floods which hit the coal-mining hub of Queensland at AUD20 billion. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.6%. Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on manufacturing activity in the state of New York.

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