The euro, which has gained about 0.2 percent in December and is up around 1.2 percent so far in the fourth quarter, could rise further against the dollar if the Fed signals more bond buying. The single currency has notched a mere 0.5 percent gain so far in 2012. But the big driver of risk taking was Germany's ZEW economic sentiment index. Morale among German analysts and investors improved sharply in December, according to a monthly poll by the ZEW think-tank, fanning hopes that Germany, Europe's largest economy, will avoid recession this winter.
"The ZEW reading seemed to suggest that investors believed that Germany would be able to avoid a recession and begin to grow again as the year progressed," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York. "The news helped to propel the euro/dollar to fresh session highs." The euro last traded up 0.5 percent at $1.3004, not far from the New York session peak of $1.3014.
Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of FX research at Commerzbank in London, said the ZEW data would throw into question the European Central Bank's grim economic forecasts for the region and growing expectations of an interest rate cut early next year. The Bundesbank has also slashed its growth forecast for Germany in 2013 and warned that Germany could tips into recession. On Monday, the euro had hit a two-week low against the dollar on rate-cut expectations, a gloomy economic outlook and political turmoil in Italy after Prime Minister Mario Monti said over the weekend that he would resign early. But it recouped lost ground after Monti said there was no danger of a vacuum before the elections.
Bets that the White House and Congress will reach a deficit reduction deal by the end of the year caused stocks to rally on Tuesday but weighed on the dollar. An agreement is needed to avoid massive tax increases and spending cuts beginning early next year that economists say could send the United States back into recession. The dollar's status as a safe-haven currency means it would likely fare well if the United States fails to avoid the "fiscal cliff." US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican, offered no concrete signs of progress on Tuesday on the fiscal cliff talks with the White House but said he remained hopeful that both sides would reach an agreement by the end-of-year deadline.
Many economists believe the Fed will announce monthly bond purchases of $45 billion, although some think it could be more. The expectations of more Fed easing pushed the Canadian dollar higher, with the US dollar falling to a two-month low, while the New Zealand dollar hit a nine-month high. The New Zealand dollar also rose to a 2-1/2-year high against the yen.
Against the yen, the dollar was last up 0.2 percent at 82.42 yen, according to Reuters data, on growing expectations an election in Japan on Sunday could result in pressure for more stimulus from the Bank of Japan. Dollar/yen price movement remains constricted given that the tight range from November 22 has narrowed further over the past four sessions, according Eric Theoret, currency strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.