NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar increased against most major currencies on Monday as investors were digesting the latest Federal Reserve officials' remarks.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Monday that continued strong demand for safe assets along with sluggish growth in the U.S. workforce will hold down U.S. interest rates for the foreseeable future.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, however, noted on Monday that the Fed has now met its employment goal and is nearing its inflation goal, despite some weak recent economic data, so it should continue raising interest rates.
Analysts said Mester's viewpoints were more in accordance with most investors in the market.
Market expectations for a June rate hike were 87.7 percent, according to the latest data from CME Group's FedWatch tool.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.45 percent at 99.090 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro dipped to 1.0931 dollars from 1.0988 dollars, and the British pound declined to 1.2947 dollars from 1.2963 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7388 U.S. dollar from 0.7413 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 113.03 Japanese yen, higher than 112.64 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar added to 0.9983 Swiss franc from 0.9875 Swiss franc, and it edged down to 1.3690 Canadian dollars from 1.3693 Canadian dollars.
