Mubasher: The US dollar went up on Tuesday, gaining over a quarter of a percent against a basket of its rivals, driven by concerns about a possible escalation in trade spat between the US and China.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, rose a quarter to 95.93.

By 10:15 am GMT, the index climbed 0.40% to 95.5180.

The public comment period on the proposed new US duties on Chinese imports is expected to end on Thursday, after which US President Donald Trump can proceed with levying tariffs on a $200 billion additional list of Chinese goods.

This prompted investor appetite for buying the US dollar, abandoning its emerging market peers, fearing that such economies, which rely on exports would be caught in the crossfire within the trade conflict.

As the chief reserve for value, the greenback is the major beneficiary of trade conflict worries.

“The general sentiment is that the dollar has not done too badly out of the trade war concerns, with concerns the US might signal a fresh escalation in the trade conflict,” Societe Generale’s foreign exchange (FX) strategist Kenneth Broux told Thomson Reuters.

The US currency might also find support from the data due to be issued this week. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) is due to release its data pertaining US manufacturing activity later in the day, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will publish its monthly payrolls data on Friday.

By 10:19 am GMT, the EUR/USD pair fell to 0.48% to $1.1563, while the GBP/USD pair declined 0.33% to $1.2827.

Against the Japanese yen (JPY), the greenback rose 0.30% to JPY 111.4000 at 10:24 am GMT.