US dollar ticks up amid Beige Book, data

New York: The US dollar traded mixed against other major currencies as investors mainly focused on the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book and the newly-released economic data.

In late New York trading on Wednesday, the euro decreased to $1.2224 from $1.2272 in the previous session, and the British pound increased to $1.3872 from $1.3797 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar rose to 0.8003 dollar from 0.7963 dollar.

The dollar bought 111.12 Japanese yen, higher than 110.30 yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9625 Swiss franc from 0.9587 Swiss franc, and it was down to 1.2413 Canadian dollars from 1.2421 Canadian dollars.

Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts indicated that the economy continued to expand from late November through the end of the year, with 11 Districts reporting modest to moderate gains and Dallas recording a robust increase, according to the Beige Book released on Wednesday.

The report said the outlook for 2018 remains optimistic for a majority of contacts across the country.

On the economic front, US Federal Reserve reported industrial production rose 0.9 per cent in December, better-than-expected, even though manufacturing output only edged up 0.1 per cent.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.03 per cent to 90.424 in late trading.

IANS