NEW YORK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar rose on Friday, as investors digested the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the second quarter (Q2), which came better than market expectations.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.19 percent at 98.0124 in late trading.
U.S. GDP grew at a 2.1 percent annual rate in Q2, decelerating from the 3.1 percent expansion in the previous quarter, data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed.
The reading was better than the rate of 1.8 percent predicted by a group of economists polled by Reuters.
Growth in the April-June period was mainly driven by consumer and government spending, while negative contributions from investment offset those gains, according to the Commerce Department.
In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.1126 dollars from 1.1144 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.2383 dollars from 1.2450 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.6906 dollar from 0.6945 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 108.70 Japanese yen, lower than 108.75 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9942 Swiss franc from 0.9914 Swiss franc, and it rose to 1.3172 Canadian dollars from 1.3162 Canadian dollars. Enditem
