LONDON — The European single currency hit a near two-month high above 1.43 dollars on Tuesday as the market braced for a survey expected to show deteriorating US consumer confidence, dealers said.
In late morning London trade, the euro rose as high as 1.4304 dollars -- a level last seen on June 3. It later stood at 1.4271 dollars, up from 1.4238 dollars in New York late on Monday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar eased to 95.12 yen from 95.16 yen late Monday.
All eyes were on a survey of US consumer confidence due to be published later Tuesday that was expected to show sentiment worsened slightly in June.
"The equity market rally and signs of a global recovery may indeed not be enough to offset elevated gas (petrol) prices and ongoing labour market weakness," warned Jan Lambregts, head of research at Rabobank International in Hong Kong.
Hopes of a recovery in the US economy got a boost Monday from data showing an 11 percent leap in new US home sales in June.
"The housing market has clearly found a bottom and new home sales have now been improving for three consecutive months," Lambregts noted.
Investors were also looking ahead to an S&P Case Schiller survey on US house prices due out later in the day as well as the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey on economic conditions out Wednesday.
Improving market sentiment should support risky currencies such as the Brazilian real, Turkish lira and the Australian and New Zealand dollars, Standard Chartered analysts wrote in a research note.
"Meanwhile, currencies such as the Japanese yen and the US dollar are likely to underperform," they predicted.
The euro also won some support Tuesday after better-than-expected results from Deutsche Bank.
Germany's biggest bank said its profits soared by 68 percent in the second quarter as global financial markets showed signs of stabilising but bad loan risks also rose.
The bank posted net profits of 1.1 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars) in the period April to June, driven mainly by a strong performance at its investment-banking wing, where revenues jumped 84 percent.
In London on Tuesday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4271 dollars against 1.4238 dollars late on Monday, at 135.98 yen (135.50), 0.8637 pounds (0.8632) and 1.5239 Swiss francs (1.5237).
The dollar stood at 95.12 yen (95.16) and 1.0662 Swiss francs (1.0703).
The pound was at 1.6551 dollars (1.6489).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold edged up to 955.07 dollars an ounce from 955 dollars an ounce late on Monday.
