1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed ahead of Fed meeting

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies Friday as debate heated over whether or not the Federal Reserve would raise interest rate in its policy meeting scheduled next week.

On the economic front, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand was unchanged in August, but seasonally adjusted, it beat market expectations for a 0.1 percent decline, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.

Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of Thomson Reuters/ University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index came in at 85.7 for September, well below market estimates.

The PPI report added to the county's import prices report released Thursday, indicating relatively low inflation level, therefore lowering market expectation for an interest-rate hike as early as this month.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.28 percent at 95.190 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1336 dollars from 1.1284 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.5427 dollars from 1.5470 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar traded flat at 0.7085 U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 120.55 Japanese yen, lower than 120.68 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dived to 0.9689 Swiss franc from 0.9716 Swiss franc and increased to 1.3256 Canadian dollars from 1.3199 Canadian dollars. Endit