Forex - Dollar higher vs. most rivals amid China rate hike fears

Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was up against most of its major counterparts on Tuesday, as speculation over a possible rate hike by China weighed on risk appetite and bolstered safe haven demand.

During European morning trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.31% to hit 1.4494.

Earlier in the day, revised data showed that service sector growth in the euro zone slowed unexpectedly in June.

The greenback was also up against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.13% to hit 1.6060.

Official data released earlier showed that service sector activity in the U.K. rose unexpectedly last month.

Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the yen but down against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY climbing 0.29% to hit 81.03 and USD/CHF shedding 0.48% to hit 0.8436.

Meanwhile, the greenback was stronger against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD easing up 0.06% to hit 0.9617, AUD/USD shedding 0.36% to hit 1.0696 and NZD/USD sliding 0.18% to hit 0.8282.

Earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia held its benchmark interest rate at 4.75% in a widely expected decision, saying that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis had “added to uncertainty” about the outlook for the world economy.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.24%.

Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to publish government data on factory orders.

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