U.S. dollar declines after Yellen's speech

The U.S. dollar dropped against most major currencies on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen failed to give hint about the timing of further interest rate hikes.

In the previous session, Yellen made her last public speech before the Fed's June policy meeting next week. She expressed optimism about the U.S. economy and said that further interest rate-hikes are likely on the way, but did not mention the timing of the hikes.

"If incoming data are consistent with labor market conditions strengthening and inflation making progress toward our 2-percent objective, as I expect, further gradual increases in the federal funds rate are likely to be appropriate," Yellen said at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia on Monday.

However, she didn't give a time-frame for raising interest rates like she did in May, which was interpreted by many market observers as "dovish."

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.05 percent at 93.853 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro slipped to 1.1365 dollars from 1.1371 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.4564 dollars from 1.4457 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7455 dollars from 0.7377 dollars.

The dollar bought 107.29 Japanese yen, lower than 107.37 yen of the previous session. The dollar fell to 0.9650 Swiss francs from 0.9700 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.2767 Canadian dollars from 1.2815 Canadian dollars. Enditem