US dollar rises on rate hike expectation

New York; The US dollar rose against most major currencies as recent remarks by Federal Reserve officials bolstered market speculation for an interest-rate hike by year-end.

In late New York trading on Thursday, the euro rose to $1.0883 from $1.0856 in the previous session and the British pound declined to $1.5213 from $1.5376 dollars in the previous session, Xinhua reported. 

The Australian dollar dropped to $0.7143 from $0.7150.

The US dollar bought 121.69 Japanese yen, higher than 121.57 yen of the previous session. 

The US dollar climbed to 0.9952 Swiss franc from 0.9942 Swiss franc, and it went up to 1.3165 Canadian dollars from 1.3163 Canadian dollars. 

Fed chair Janet Yellen told Congress on Wednesday that the US economy is "performing well" and that "December would be a live possibility" for a rate increase at the Fed's next monetary policy meeting.

Yellen's words were echoed by several other Fed officials. New York Fed president William Dudley said Wednesday that he would "completely agree" with Yellen on a December hike.

Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart said on Thursday that the "US economy is likely in an above-potential growth phase ... the case for liftoff will continue to firm up".