Dollar mixed as Greece faces high borrowing costs, US reports show economy is improving

Dollar mixed as Greece faces high borrowing costs

NEW YORK — The dollar was mixed against major currencies Tuesday, edging higher against the euro as investors saw Greece’s climbing borrowing costs as evidence the country’s debt crisis is far from over.

While Greece was able to successfully raise more money from bond sales Tuesday, markets demanded higher interest rates for holding Greek debt despite last week’s promise of a financial backstop from other European countries.

The euro, which traded at 10-month lows last week, fell to $1.3419 in late New York trading from $1.3463 late Monday.

The British pound rose to $1.5061 from $1.4975, while the dollar edged up to 92.82 Japanese yen from 92.54 yen.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government reported that consumer confidence grew more than expected in March. Still, that’s well below historic levels that indicate a strong economy. A separate report showed home prices inched higher for the eighth consecutive month.

Jobs reports later this week are expected to provide more evidence that the economy is improving.

Payroll company ADP will release its employment report Wednesday, which economists forecast will show private-sector employers added 40,000 jobs in March. On Friday, the Labor Department will release its monthly jobs report, which is expected to show employers added jobs this month for only the second time since the recession began in December 2007.

“With the market increasingly trading off of fundamentals over the past two weeks, these reports may provide the catalyst needed for the next leg higher” for the dollar, Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., wrote in a note to clients.

In other late trading Tuesday, the dollar fell to 1.0192 Canadian dollars from 1.0220 late Monday, but climbed to 1.0662 Swiss francs from 1.0639 francs.