U.S. dollar rallies on rate hike concerns

NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar rose against most other major currencies on Tuesday as investors digested remarks from several Federal Reserve officials.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Monday said the U.S. central bank should keep raising short-term interest rates, but perhaps at a slower pace than last year, according to Market Watch.

However, Fed of Cleveland President Loretta Mester argued earlier that the strong U.S. economy and low unemployment level make the case for four rate hikes in 2018.

On the economic front, the number of job openings was little changed at 5.9 million on the last business day of November, missing market estimates, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan reduced the size of its bond-repurchase offer by 5 percent in its latest market operation.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.20 percent at 92.542 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1932 dollars from 1.1965 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound lost to 1.3533 dollars from 1.3565 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar dipped to 0.7824 dollar from 0.7841 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 112.61 Japanese yen, lower than 113.08 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9832 Swiss franc from 0.9775 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.2459 Canadian dollars from 1.2423 Canadian dollars. Enditem