U.S. dollar climbs on Fed officials' comments

The U.S. dollar ended higher against most major currencies on Wednesday as hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials bolstered market speculation for a rate-hike later this month.

New York Fed President William Dudley said on Tuesday that the case for tightening had "become a lot more compelling", while the San Francisco Fed President John Williams said he expects a rate rise will receive "serious consideration" at the March monetary policy meeting.

The Fed policymakers' words sent the greenback higher on Wednesday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.54 percent to 101.670 in late trading.

On the economic front, U.S. personal income increased 63 billion dollars, or 0.4 percent, in January, beating market consensus of 0.3 percent, said the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0553 dollars from 1.0604 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.2301 dollars from 1.2413 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.7676 U.S. dollar from 0.7674 U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 113.69 Japanese yen, higher than 112.02 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 1.0084 Swiss francs from 1.0036 Swiss francs, and it edged up to 1.3345 Canadian dollars from 1.3273 Canadian dollars. Enditem