Business
US dollar soars on rate-hike expectation
New York, July 31
The US dollar rose against
other major currencies as robust economic data from the country
bolstered market expectation for an interest-rate hike by the year-end.
The
commerce department reported on Thursday that the US economy expanded
at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the second quarter, a moderate
bounce from the revised 0.6 percent increase in the first quarter,
Xinhua news agency reported.
Though the latest reading was below
market consensus of a 2.5 percent gain, it still pointed to a sound
recovery of US economy from the first quarter weakness.
The
central bank said that the US economy was expanding "moderately", with
additional improvements in housing and the labour market.
Analysts
said the Fed had upgraded its assessments of economic performance,
supporting the popular view that the first rate-hike since 2006 may
occur later this year.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.59 percent at 97.549 in late trading.
In
late New York trading, the euro declined to $1.0921 from $1.1006 in the
previous session, and the British pound dropped to $1.5600 from $1.5610
in the previous session.
The Australian dollar decreased to $0.7286 from $0.7298.