U.S. dollar rises on upbeat economic outlook

NEW YORK, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar index rose on Wednesday as investors kept a close eye on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.

According to the Beige Book released in the afternoon, economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace across the 12 Fed districts in March and early April.

Outlooks remained positive, but contacts in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation expressed concern about the newly imposed and/or proposed tariffs.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.14 percent at 89.637 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.2378 dollars from 1.2365 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.4204 dollars from 1.4287 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar increased to 0.7784 dollar from 0.7769 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 107.27 Japanese yen, higher than 107.01 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9683 Swiss franc from 0.9661 Swiss franc, and it increased to 1.2632 Canadian dollars from 1.2555 Canadian dollars. Enditem