NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar increased against other major currencies on Monday, as investors digested a batch of positive economic reports.
U.S. economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September, and the overall economy grew for the 100th consecutive month, according to the latest report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
The manufacturing index, also known as the purchasing managers index (PMI), registered 60.8 in September, an increase of two percentage points from the August reading and beating market consensus of 58.0, said the ISM.
U.S. construction spending rebounded in August after two months of declines. The Commerce Department said on Monday that construction spending was at 1.22 trillion U.S. dollars, 0.5 percent above the revised July estimate, and 2.5 percent above the August 2016 figure.
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit final U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index came in at 53.1 in September, up slightly on the flash reading of 53.0 and rising from 52.8 in August.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.49 percent at 93.531 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1744 dollars from 1.1809 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dipped to 1.3285 dollars from 1.3393 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar lost to 0.7835 dollar from 0.7841 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 112.65 Japanese yen, higher than 112.48 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar increased to 0.9746 Swiss franc from 0.9688 Swiss franc, and it moved up to 1.2500 Canadian dollars from 1.2475 Canadian dollars. Enditem
