The dollar rose against most major currencies on Tuesday as U.S. stocks pulled back from big rallies in previous sessions.
Wall Street rose sharply on Monday as investors bet that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's economic recovery plan could help guide the economy back to health. But stocks tumbled Tuesday amid profit taking and bad corporate news.
Fedex, the second-biggest U.S. package-shipping company, slashed its forecast for fiscal 2009 earnings and capital spending Monday as the slumping economy hurt delivery business even with much lower fuel prices.
Texas Instruments, a major provider of processors for mobile phones and other devices, cut its profit forecast for the current quarter. The chipmaker said economic downturn is having a powerful impact on the market for its products.
Analysts said investors were still trying to evaluate how badly company profits would be hurt and how soon Obama's plan could aid the economy.
The U.S. dollar has risen about 20 percent since summer as investors seek safe-haven in a volatile environment. Some expect that the greenback will go down as worries over financial markets begin to ease.
The euro bought 1.2919 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.2955 dollars it bought late Monday. The pound fell to 1.4760 dollars from 1.4948 dollars.
The dollar rose to 1.2644 Canadian dollars from 1.2525 Canadian dollars, and fell to 92.13 Japanese yen from 92.97 Japanese yen. It rose to 1.2058 Swiss francs from 1.2035 Swiss francs.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2008)