1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar falls as rate-hike expectation dims

The U.S. dollar dropped against most major currencies Tuesday as investors lowered their expectations for an interest-rate hike as soon as September ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.28 percent at 95.955 in late trading.

With no major data coming out Tuesday, investors were awaiting Fed's September policy meeting scheduled to open next Wednesday. Many had expected the U.S. central bank to raise interest rate at this month's meeting, but the recent turmoil in global economy has overshadowed the prospect.

Moreover, U.S. economic data came out mixed Friday, failing to underpin the Fed's potential move to lift benchmark rates this month.

The total nonfarm payroll employment added 173,000 in August, well below market consensus of 223,000. The unemployment rate, however, inched down to 5.1 percent, beating market estimates of 5.2 percent and logging the lowest level in seven years, according to the Labor Department Friday.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1187 dollars from 1.1170 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.5384 dollars from 1.5277 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar moved up to 0.7030 dollar from 0.6924 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.99 Japanese yen, higher than 119.28 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar hiked to 0.9814 Swiss franc from 0.9751 Swiss franc but declined to 1.3211 Canadian dollars from 1.3307 Canadian dollars. Endit