U.S. dollar rises on Fed Beige Book

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Wednesday as investors were digesting the newly-released Federal Reserve Beige Book.

The U.S. economy grew at a modest pace in July and August as a strong labor market failed to put much upward pressure on wages and prices, said the Fed's latest Beige Book release, a survey of business contacts published Wednesday.

"In general, expectations of wage growth for the coming months were modest" and price increases "remained slight overall," according to the report.

While the job market "remained tight in most districts," overall consumer spending was "little changed" from the previous report, it said.

Analysts said the report is flat and does not point to much urgency for the Fed to raise interest rate.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.17 percent at 94.980 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1239 dollars from 1.1261 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.3335 dollars from 1.3434 dollars. The Australian dollar slipped to 0.7671 dollars from 0.7682 dollars.

The dollar bought 101.77 Japanese yen, lower than 101.96 yen in the previous session. The dollar rose to 0.9697 Swiss francs from 0.9696 Swiss francs, and it inched up to 1.2899 Canadian dollars from 1.2834 Canadian dollars. Enditem