The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.56 per cent at 95.116 in late trading, the highest level in three weeks.
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His comments came after Fed chair Janet Yellen painted a rosy picture of the U.S. economy at an economic symposium on Friday and said the case for a rate hike was strengthening.
The Australian dollar declined to $0.7505 from $0.7578.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Fischer did not comment on the timing of the next Fed rate hike but said “we choose the pace on basis of data”, and that USA “employment is very close to full employment”.
“In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months”, Yellen said. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 101.1 this month, an 11-month high.
UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 closed down 0.2 percent, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 ended the day up by 0.60 percent, Germany’s DAX ended up by 1.1 percent, France’s CAC finished the day up by 0.9 percent.
“Gold is coming under pressure” because of increasing signs that the Fed is going to raise rates this year, Bernard Aw, a Singapore-based strategist at IG Asia Pte, said by e-mail. Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer told Bloomberg TV that the USA job market is nearing full strength and the pace of rate increases will depend on the economy’s health.
Apple (AAPL.O) dragged down US technology stocks after European Union antitrust regulators ordered the iPhone maker to pay about $14.5 billion in back taxes to the Irish government.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 48.69 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 18,454.3.
U.S. Treasury yields were little changed as traders awaited the U.S.jobs data.
US stocks ended Tuesday’s session to the downside as oil prices declined and Wall Street factored in a near-term rate increase.
Bullion for immediate delivery was 0.2 percent higher at $1,313.05 an ounce at 2:47 p.m.in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. United States crude was down 39 cents, or 0.83 per cent, at $46.59 per barrel.
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Oil prices fell Tuesday, with Brent losing almost 2 percent, as the dollar rallied and glut worries grew amid forecasts for higher US crude stockpiles and Iran’s remark that it was on target to reach peak production. US crude CLc1 settled down 63 cents, or 1.34 percent, at $46.35 per barrel.
