The US dollar soared against its Canadian counterpart on Tuesday as investors sought refuge from tumbling financial markets. Despite strong jobs data, stocks were sliding amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of job openings in the US increased by 199,000 month-over-month in July to 11.239 million. This is up from 11.04 million positions in the previous month, but the reading was higher than the market estimate of 10.45 million.

The number of quits eased to 4.179 million last month, down from 4.253 million in June.

Have Americans’ sentiment turned bullish? The Conference Board’s (CB) Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) soared to 103.2 in August, up from 95.3 in July. It also topped economists’ expectations of 97.7. Although it was a strong reading, the CCI hovered around pandemic lows.

“Consumer confidence increased in August after falling for three straight months,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement. “The Present Situation Index recorded a gain for the first time since March. The Expectations Index likewise improved from July’s 9-year low, but remains below a reading of 80, suggesting recession risks continue. Concerns about inflation continued their retreat but remained elevated.”

“Meanwhile, purchasing intentions increased after a July pullback, and vacation intentions reached an 8-month high. Looking ahead, August’s improvement in confidence may help support spending, but inflation and additional rate hikes still pose risks to economic growth in the short term.”

The US real estate market continued showing signs of easing as the House Price Index rose just 0.1% in June, down from 1.3% in May. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index edged up 0.4% month-over-month in June, down from 1.5% in the previous month.

In addition, the Dallas Fed Services Index slipped to -5.7 in August, up from -10.9 in July.

The leading stock market benchmark indexes were in the red on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 400 points. The S&P 500 slipped 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined more than 200 points.

The US Treasury market was mixed. The benchmark ten-year yield was flat at 3.114%. The one-year bill picked up 4.2 basis points to 3.456%, while the 30-year bond shed 2.2 basis points to 3.225%. The spread between the two- and ten-year yields remained about -35 basis points.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, dipped 0.03% to 108.80, from an opening of 108.80. The index is up more than 13% year-to-date.

The USD/CAD currency pair surged 0.7% to 1.3103, from an opening of 1.3012, at 17:23 GMT on Tuesday. The EUR/USD climbed 0.24% to 1.0021, from an opening of 0.9997.