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

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies on Monday as investors lowered expectation for an interest-rate hike before mid-year following recent dovish remarks from Federal Reserve officials.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.28 percent at 93.973 in late trading.

With no major data coming out on Monday, investors were still digesting recent remarks from U.S. central bank policy-makers.

New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that a cautious and gradual approach to rate hikes is appropriate, citing risks to the U.S. economy remain tilted to the downside.

Dudley's words echoed the latest Fed minutes, lowering market expectation for a rate-hike in the first half of this year.

According to the minutes from the Fed's March monetary policy meeting released on Wednesday, "many participants expressed a view that the global economic and financial situation still posed appreciable downside risks."

"Many indicated that the heightened global risks and the asymmetric ability of monetary policy to respond to them warranted caution," the minutes stated.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1409 dollars from 1.1396 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4247 dollars from 1.4115 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7610 dollars from 0.7551 dollars.

The dollar bought 107.97 Japanese yen, lower than 108.37 yen of the previous session. The dollar increased to 0.9542 Swiss francs from 0.9541 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.2897 Canadian dollars from 1.2995 Canadian dollars. Endite