U.S. dollar rises amid Fed minutes

The U.S. dollar climbed against most other major currencies on Wednesday as investors digested the Federal Reserve's minutes from its September meeting.

According to the minutes released in the afternoon, policy makers generally agreed that the case for an increase in the policy rate had strengthened.

"The Committee agreed that, in determining the timing and size of future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, it would assess realized and expected economic conditions relative to its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation," the minutes said.

On the Fed's September policy meeting, the U.S. central bank kept its federal funds rate unchanged, but signaled that Fed could have one rate hike by the end of this year.

On the economic front, the number of job openings decreased to 5.4 million on the last business day of August, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.22 percent at 97.902 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1013 dollars from 1.1052 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.2191 dollars from 1.2126 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar rose to 0.7565 dollar from 0.7543 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 104.26 Japanese yen, higher than 103.34 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rallied to 0.9905 Swiss franc from 0.9885 Swiss franc, and it moved up to 1.3252 Canadian dollars from 1.3250 Canadian dollars. Endit