By William L. Watts and Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar extended losses against the euro and pared a decline against the Japanese yen after better-than-expected data on U.S. consumer confidence and home prices, lending support to U.S. stocks and reducing the demand for the relative safety of the greenback and yen.
The euro gained strength earlier after Germany's jobless numbers fell less than forecast.
The dollar index (DXY 82.95, -0.21, -0.26%) , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of currencies, fell to 82.956, down from 83.184 late Monday.
By William L. Watts and Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar extended losses against the euro and pared a decline against the Japanese yen after better-than-expected data on U.S. consumer confidence and home prices, lending support to U.S. stocks and reducing the demand for the relative safety of the greenback and yen.
The euro gained strength earlier after Germany's jobless numbers fell less than forecast.
The dollar index (DXY 82.95, -0.21, -0.26%) , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of currencies, fell to 82.956, down from 83.184 late Monday.
"As I've been saying, my fundamental stance is that excessive fluctuations or disorderly movements in exchange rates have a negative effect on the stability of economies and financial markets. Based on this stance, we will monitor the market with great interest, and we will take decisive steps when that becomes necessary," he said.
After the yen reached a 15-year high against the dollar last week, the Bank of Japan held an emergency policy meeting Monday and expanded its lending program. But that, and verbal warnings from Noda and other officials, had no lasting effects.
"Noda's jawboning was ignored and dollar-yen continues to trade heavily after the BOJ underwhelmed," said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada.
