U.S. dollar falls on profit-taking

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies on Thursday as investors took profits on the greenback's recent gains.

The U.S. dollar rallied against most major currencies earlier this week as the country's central bank was on track to raise interest rates by year-end.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.35 percent at 99.322 in late trading on Tuesday, the highest level since April. The index retreated to 98.652 in late trading on Thursday due to profit-taking in the market.

The U.S. dollar had been firmly supported since a robust employment report released last week spurred market expectation for an interest-rate hike in the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting in December.

Tne U.S. Labor Department said last Friday that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 271,000 in October, soundly beating market consensus of a 190,000-rise.

The department said Thursday that in the week ending Nov. 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 276,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised level.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0792 dollars from 1.0743 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.5223 dollars from 1.5220 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.7125 dollar from 0.7058 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 122.66 Japanese yen, lower than 122.90 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dropped to 1.0012 Swiss franc from 1.0045 Swiss franc, and it went up to 1.3278 Canadian dollars from 1.3267 Canadian dollars. Endit