U.S. dollar climbs on rate-hike expectation

The U.S. dollar increased against most major currencies on Wednesday as the newly-released jobs data from the country boosted market expectation for an interest rate-hike later this year.

U.S. private sector employment added 179,000 jobs from June to July, beating market consensus of a 165,000-gain, said the July ADP National Employment Report Wednesday.

If the U.S. labor market is robust enough, analysts said U.S. Federal Reserve might raise interest rates by year-end.

Meanwhile, investors were awaiting the closely-watched U.S. nonfarm payroll report due out on Friday for more clues on the Fed's next move.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.53 percent at 95.572 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1144 dollars from 1.1232 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound dipped to 1.3316 dollars from 1.3352 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7578 dollars from 0.7610 dollars.

The dollar bought 101.17 Japanese yen, higher than 100.79 yen of the previous session. The dollar climbed to 0.9736 Swiss francs from 0.9636 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.3084 Canadian dollars from 1.3089 Canadian dollars. Endit