New York, May 2 (IANS) The US dollar increased in late trading on Wednesday, as the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged amid low inflation pressure, which met market expectations.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1194 from $1.1221 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to $1.3044 from $1.3037 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar decreased to $0.7011 from $0.7051.

The US dollar bought 111.59 Japanese yen, higher than 111.36 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was down to 1.0181 Swiss francs from 1.0187 Swiss francs, and it was up to 1.3450 Canadian dollars from 1.3392 Canadian dollars.

The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-making arm, announced to hold the target range for its benchmark interest rate at 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent, according to a statement released after a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

The Fed noted that the labour market has remained strong and economic activity risen at a solid rate since March, while the growth of household spending and business fixed investment slowed in the first quarter.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.21 per cent at 97.6878 in late trading.


--IANS pgh/