US dollar declines after Yellen's speech

The US dollar dropped against most major currencies after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen failed to give hint about the timing of further interest rate hikes.

In late New York trading on Tuesday, the euro slipped to $1.1365 from $1.1371 of the previous session, and the British pound increased to $1.4564 from $1.4457, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar went up to $0.7455 from $0.7377.

The dollar bought 107.29 Japanese yen, lower than 107.37 yen of the previous session.

The dollar fell to 0.9650 Swiss francs from 0.9700 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.2767 Canadian dollars from 1.2815 Canadian dollars.

In the previous session, Yellen made her last public speech before the Fed's June policy meeting next week.

She expressed optimism about the US economy and said that further interest rate-hikes are likely on the way, but did not mention the timing of the hikes.

"If incoming data are consistent with labor market conditions strengthening and inflation making progress toward our 2-percent objective, as I expect, further gradual increases in the federal funds rate are likely to be appropriate," Yellen said at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia on Monday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.05 percent at 93.853 in late trading.

--IANS

pgh/