U.S. dollar rises amid rising Treasury yield

NEW YORK, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar index increased against other major currencies in late trading on Monday as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose toward the psychologically important 3-percent level.

The 10-year yield on Monday hit its highest in over four years at 2.998 percent, driven by worries about the growing supply of government debt and accelerating inflation as oil and commodity prices climb.

Analysts said the higher rates spurred additional speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates more than previously expected.

On the economic front, U.S. total existing-home sales rose 1.1 percent from 5.54 million in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.60 million in March, beating market consensus, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index came in at 54.8 in April, up from 54.2 in March, indicating a faster upturn in business activity across the private sector.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.68 percent at 90.929 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.2206 dollars from 1.2288 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.3936 dollars from 1.4031 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar dipped to 0.7603 dollar from 0.7671 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 108.64 Japanese yen, higher than 107.57 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar increased to 0.9785 Swiss franc from 0.9746 Swiss franc, and it climbed to 1.2848 Canadian dollars from 1.2739 Canadian dollars. Enditem