1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises amid upbeat data

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Friday as the country's overall strong economic data pointed to a possible interest-rate hike later this year.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that in July, U.S. personal income increased 0.4 percent, and disposable personal income rose 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, personal consumption expenditures gained 0.3 percent after an upwardly revised 0.3 percent rise in the previous month.

The upbeat consumer spending data added to the robust GDP report released on Thursday, underpinning the central bank's potential decision to raise interest rate by year-end.

The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday revised up its estimate for the real gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter from a growth rate of 2.3 percent to 3.7 percent, much higher than a growth of 0.6 percent in the first quarter.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.52 percent at 96.111 Friday in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1179 dollars from 1.1257 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.5391 dollars from 1.5425 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar inched down to 0.7164 dollar from 0.7171 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 121.33 Japanese yen, higher than 120.68 yen of the previous session. The greenback dived to 0.9630 Swiss franc from 0.9653 Swiss franc, and hiked to 1.3218 Canadian dollars from 1.3220 Canadian dollars. Enditem