HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar weakened a bit against major currencies Tuesday after an improvement Chinese manufacturing data in April, although it rallied against the Australian currency after an aggressive interest rate cut by the central bank there.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.07% , which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major global currencies, slipped to 78.728 from 78.779 in North American trade late Monday.
The mild weakness came after an official survey of Chinese manufacturing activity showed a continued improvement for a fifth straight month in April, signaling stabilized economic conditions. Read full story on China economic data.
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The Dow traded lower after Spain officially entered a recession and domestic readings on the economy and personal spending deteriorated.
Among major currencies, the euroEURUSD +0.11% was trading at $1.3245, little changed from $1.3242. The British pound GBPUSD -0.10% was fetching $1.6225 compared with $1.6233.
The dollar USDJPY -0.10% , meanwhile, was changing hands for 79.73 yen, slipping from ¥79.82 as Japanese stocks dropped sharply in Tokyo. Read more on Asia markets
However, the Australian dollarAUDUSD -1.04% skidded against the greenback and was changing hands at $1.0319, losing more than a U.S. cent from the day’s high.
The drop came after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its policy interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.75%, against expectations for a 25 basis point reduction, citing moderating inflation and weaker-than-expected economic data.
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