1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises on rate-hike speculation

The U.S. dollar rallied against most major currencies on Tuesday as recent remarks by some Federal Reserve officials continued to buttress market expectations for an interest-rate hike later this year.

Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday that he remains confident the central bank will lift interest rates this year, even as recent market turbulence raised risks to the economic and inflation outlook.

Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard also said on Monday that "the case for policy normalization is quite strong," even after the Fed kept its benchmark rate unchanged last week.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.40 percent at 96.277 in late trading.

The Japanese yen inched up against the U.S. dollar as the waning global equity markets spurred investors' demand for safe-haven assets.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1131 dollars from 1.1190 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.5371 dollars from 1.5496 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7087 dollar from 0.7136 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 120.02 Japanese yen, lower than 120.60 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9741 Swiss franc from 0.9710 Swiss franc, and it climbed to 1.3263 Canadian dollars from 1.3230 Canadian dollars. Enditem