U.S. dollar rises on Fed official' s hawkish remarks

The U.S. dollar climbed against other major currencies on Friday after a top Federal Reserve official called for an interest-rate hike in the coming months.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Thursday that the U.S. economy is strong enough to warrant a rate-hike soon.

"In the context of a strong domestic economy with good momentum, it makes sense to get back to a pace of gradual rate increases, preferably sooner rather than later," Williams said in an open speech in Alaska, adding that an earlier start to raising rates would allow a smoother, more gradual process of normalization.

Williams' words were in accordance with two other Fed officials' comments earlier this week.

New York Fed President William Dudley said Tuesday that the Fed may raise rates as soon as September.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart also said Tuesday that there could be one or two rate increases this year.

The Fed officials' hawkish remarks spurred market expectation for an interest-rate hike soon, which supported the greenback on Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.37 percent at 94.503 in late trading on Friday.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1325 dollars from 1.1354 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound declined to 1.3081 dollars from 1.3152 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7624 dollars from 0.7690 dollars.

The dollar bought 100.21 Japanese yen, higher than 99.95 yen in the previous session. The dollar rose to 0.9596 Swiss francs from 0.9552 Swiss francs, and it inched up to 1.2856 Canadian dollars from 1.2772 Canadian dollars. Enditem