1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar declines on Fed official's comments

The U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies on Monday after a Federal Reserve official lowered expectations for the first Fed rate hike this year.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said on Monday that the weak first-quarter economic data made him find it probably won't be appropriate for the central bank to begin lifting interest rates until "sometime in early 2016."

A rate hike is expected to boost the dollar by driving investment flows into the United States.

There has been growing division among Fed officials on the timing of the first rate hike, and the lackluster economic data make a midyear move less likely.

According to the U.S. Commerce Department last week, the real gross domestic product (GDP) rose at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter this year. The first quarter GDP showed a sharp decline from the previous quarter's 2.2 percent pace, raising market concerns that the country's economic recovery are losing momentum.

On the economic front, new orders for manufactured goods in March increased 2.1 percent to 476.5 billion U.S. dollars, following seven consecutive monthly decreases, reported the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday. The latest reading was in accordance with market consensus.

In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.1140 dollars from 1.1192 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound declined to 1.5118 dollars from 1.5133 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7846 dollars from 0. 7824 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 120.10 Japanese yen, lower than 120.28 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was flat at 0.9343 Swiss francs, and it slipped to 1.2103 Canadian dollars from 1. 2170 Canadian dollars. Endite