Dollar continues to rise

The U.S. dollar rose for a third day against other major currencies after the Federal Reserve indicated that it would trim its monthly bond purchases later this year. No major economic data were released Friday. The Dollar Index, which used to monitor the greenback against the currencies of six U.S. trade partners, increased 0.5 percent. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke said Wednesday that the Fed may start to taper its pace of bond purchases later this year, and may end them around the mid-2014, if the economy continues to improve. The outlook for tapering lifted up the dollar. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, one of the two members of the Federal Open Market Committee who dissented with the decision adopted at the latest FOMC policy meeting held earlier this week, said in a statement Friday that"the Committee's decision to authorize the Chairman to lay out a more elaborate plan for reducing the pace of asset purchases was inappropriately timed." Traders were bullish on the U.S. dollar, as they expected the improving U.S. economy would prompt a rise in interest rates in late 2014. In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.3139 dollars from 1.3196 dollars of the previous session and the British pound decreased to 1.5427 dollars from 1.5478 dollars. The Australian dollar gained to 0.9247 dollars from 0.9175 dollars. The dollar bought 97.78 Japanese yen, higher than 97.24 yen of the previous session. It edged up to 0.9341 Swiss francs from 0. 9278 Swiss francs and moved up to 1.0457 Canadian dollars from 1. 0393 Canadian dollars.