US Dollar Rises Amid Fed Rate Hike Expectation

The US dollar gained Tuesday as market expected the Federal Reserve to continue the interest rate hike this year.

Given the considerable improvement in labor market, traders believed that the US central bank will continue the rate hike.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 242,000 in February, topping market expectations, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, the US Labor Department announced Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.09 percent at 97.190 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to USD 1.1007 from USD 1.1012 in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to USD 1.4214 from USD 1.4261. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7445 US dollar from 0.7470 dollar.

The US dollar bought 112.57 Japanese yen, lower than 113.28 yen of the previous session. The US dollar increased to 0.9963 Swiss franc from 0.9952 Swiss franc and inched up to 1.3404 Canadian dollars from 1.3289 Canadian dollars. (PNA/Xinhua) JBP/EBP