NEW YORK, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar fell significantly in late trading on Wednesday as the latest U.S. inflation data showed a sign of cooling in the economy.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.69 percent to 101.4997.
In late New York trading, the euro was up to 1.0995 U.S. dollars from 1.0908 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.2488 U.S. dollars from 1.2418 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 133.1600 Japanese yen, lower than 133.7700 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.8957 Swiss franc from 0.9033 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3429 Canadian dollars from 1.3467 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar fell to 10.3300 Swedish Krona from 10.4551 Swedish Krona.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, rose by 5 percent in March year on year. While the index indicated that inflation has eased significantly from its peak of more than 9 percent in June 2022, it's still much higher than the Fed's target of 2 percent.
"It's improving and the economy is cooling, but it's still far from tepid," Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, said on Wednesday.
Although FedWatch Tool shows that there is a 70 percent probability of a 25 bps rate hike at the next Fed meeting, "traders have started to prepare for rate cuts in the second half of the year," Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire, said on Wednesday.
