Dollars Rises Ahead of U.S. Data

        The dollar continued to firm against the euro Tuesday ahead of the release of U.S. economic data later in the week that many think will support the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in coming months.
        Having already appreciated in the previous session, the dollar advanced close to 0.5% in early trade against the euro, taking gains against the single currency to over 12% so far this year and to over 27% over the past year.
        The buck was steady against Japan's yen, at Yen120.11 and up a little less than 0.2% against the British pound.
        The dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of major global currencies, is on track to record its strongest quarter since 2008, according to Lee Hardman, a currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
        "Strengthening cyclical momentum for the U.S. economy should provide additional support for a stronger U.S. dollar in the coming quarter," he said.
        Currency strategists at BNP Paribas said they expect the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index and the U.S. consumer confidence index, both due later in the day, to "reverse some of their unexpected large declines reported for February" which could add to the dollar's strength. Others pointed to Friday's nonfarm payroll figure as a likely trigger for further strength in the buck.
        The weaker euro against the dollar helped to support European shares for a second consecutive session Tuesday, putting some indexes on track for their strongest quarter in years.
        The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% in early trade. Germany's DAX waned 0.1%, but it has appreciated more than 22% so far this year. France's CAC, rose 0.2% in early trade, marking a more than 19% gain so far in 2015.
        The notable underperformer in equity markets over the last three months has been Greece's Athex Composite index, which has suffered amid tensions between the country and its international creditors over bailout funds.
        Officials from Athens were in Brussels over the weekend to present proposals to the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund but eurozone officials said that the proposals lacked detail.
        Senior eurozone finance officials are due to hold a teleconference on Wednesday to discuss the situation, officials said.
        The Athex rose 0.6% early Tuesday but remains close to 6% lower so far this year and down more than 40% over the last 12 months.
        In commodity markets Tuesday, Brent crude declined 1.3% to $55.56 a barrel, while gold lost just under 0.3% to $1,181.60 a troy ounce.
        Write to Josie Cox at josie.cox@wsj.com
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        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        March 31, 2015 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)

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