Dollar falls as Congress passes tax bill

New York, Dec 21 (IANS) The dollar declined against most other major currencies on Wednesday, as the US House of Representatives passed a revised Republican bill to overhaul the US tax code over three decades.

The House voted 224-201 to approve the $1.5-trillion package, which would impact nearly every part of the world's largest economy, affecting both large and small businesses, as well as families, Xinhua reported.

The House passed the tax bill Tuesday afternoon, but the Senate's parliamentarian found several provisions in the bill violated budget rules, forcing lawmakers to strip them out and requiring the House to vote again.

The Senate narrowly passed the revised bill on Tuesday midnight with a vote of 51-48.

Now the bill, without the support of a single Democrat in Congress, will be sent to President Donald Trump's desk for signature within days and to take effect in 2018.

On the economic front, US existing-home sales surged for the third straight month in November and reached their strongest pace in almost 11 years, according to the National Association of Realtors Wednesday.

US total existing-home sales jumped 5.6 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.81 million in November from an upwardly revised 5.50 million in October.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.14 per cent at 93.313 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to $1.1877 from $1.1846 in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to $1.3391 from $1.3386 in the previous session. The Australian dollar gained to $0.7666 from $0.7663.