U.S. dollar gains ahead of U.S. key inflation readings

NEW YORK, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar strengthened modestly on Monday boosted by higher U.S. Treasury yields.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.09 percent to 103.6455 in late trading.

The U.S. dollar gained support as the yield of U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds moved up on Monday morning though it turned into losses in the afternoon.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release the May consumer price index (CPI) survey on Tuesday morning. If the CPI data is stronger than expected or even unexpectedly higher than the previous reading, it would likely increase the likelihood of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve and potentially change the weak trajectory of the U.S. dollar index.

"Investors have been looking forward to a Fed pause in the rate hiking cycle since they started over a year ago. They're trying to get out ahead of that," said Burns McKinney, portfolio manager of NFJ Investment Group in Dallas.

Euro moved up against the U.S. dollar on Monday morning as the potential of divergent decisions from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank this week drove price action, noted Monex USA, a provider of foreign exchange, risk management, and international payment solutions.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0756 dollars from 1.0749 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2505 dollars from 1.2575 U.S. dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 139.5750 Japanese yen, higher than 139.4000 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9096 Swiss francs from 0.9031 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3371 Canadian dollars from 1.3351 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar decreased to 10.8117 Swedish Krona from 10.8235 Swedish Krona.