NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The dollar halted a three-day decline Tuesday on a stronger-than-expected consumer confidence report.
Bonds dipped early on the confidence report but later recovered.
Late Tuesday, the euro bought $1.3608, down from $1.3615 late Monday, although the euro hit a new high of $1.3643 earlier in the session before the confidence numbers were released.
The dollar inched up against the yen, buying ¥103.07 versus ¥103.03 late Monday.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence indexjumped to 102.3 from an upwardly revised 92.6 reading in November, as consumers' satisfaction with the economy and its prospects improved.
Economists on average had forecast that the index would rise to 93.5 from 90.5 in November, according to Briefing.com.
"There was a good consumer confidence number on the back of a good Michigan number last week but it's pretty thin out there and not a whole lot behind (the dollar's move today)," John Beerling, chief currencies dealer with Wells Fargo in Minneapolis, told Reuters.
"There just seems to be more reasons to buy dollars then sell them today," he added.
Currency trade was light, with London -- the market's biggest trading center -- closed for a public holiday.
Solid economic news is usually good for the dollar as it generally means the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates. Rising interest rates attract foreign investors to U.S. debt, which must be purchased in U.S. dollars, thus driving up demand for the greenback.
Treasuries were little changed after dipping earlier on the confidence numbers, which led many to believe the Fed will continue with its policy of measured interest rate hikes.
The benchmark 10-year note inched up 2/32 to 99-20/32 to yield 4.30 percent, unchanged from late Monday. The 30-year bond was also flat at 106-22/32 to yield 4.92 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The two-year and five-year notes also drifted. The two-year was trading at 99-20/32 to yield 3.07 percent, while the five-year was at 99-9/32 to yield 3.66 percent.
"The Fed is likely to continue to raise rates for much of the year 2005," Anthony Chan, senior economist at JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management, told Reuters.
Bond holders fear rising interest rates, and the rising inflation they are meant to prevent, because inflation erodes the value of the fixed-interest paying investment.
-- Reuters contributed to this report
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