Dollar hits four-month high against euro on Fed taper talk

Analysts said the dollar was getting support from rising U.S. bond yields, as the prospect of reduced Fed stimulus weakened bond prices, Reuters reports.

 U.S. job openings, a measure of labour demand, hit a record high in June while hiring also increased, the Labour Department said in a monthly survey on Monday.

That followed Friday's non-farm payroll report showing jobs increased by 943,000 in July, above the 870,000 forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

 The dollar index strengthened on Friday and Monday, and reached an 18-day high of 93.02 during Asian trading hours on Tuesday.

 At 0850 GMT, it was flat at 93.035.

The euro hit a four-month low against the dollar, with the pair changing hands at $1.1726.

The Swiss franc and Japanese yen were both down 0.1% against the dollar, as demand for safe-haven currencies fell.

Attention now turns to U.S. consumer inflation data due on Wednesday, which could provide more cues on the timing of the Fed's bond-purchase taper.

Although there is talk among analysts of the market being "data-driven", U.S. jobs market and inflation statistics are difficult to interpret, Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) Ulrich Leuchtmann wrote in a client note.