US dollar falls amid Fed official's remarks

The US dollar decreased against most major currencies on Friday as a Federal Reserve official suggested the central bank should proceed cautiously in raising rates.

New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that a cautious and gradual approach to rate hikes is appropriate, citing risks to the U.S. economy remain tilted to the downside.

Dudley's words added to the latest Fed minutes, lowering market expectation for an interest-rate hike in the near future.

According to minutes from the Fed's March monetary policy meeting released on Wednesday, "many participants expressed a view that the global economic and financial situation still posed appreciable downside risks."

"Many indicated that the heightened global risks and the asymmetric ability of monetary policy to respond to them warranted caution," the minutes stated.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.21 percent at 94.279 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1396 dollars from 1.1379 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4115 dollars from 1.4061 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7551 dollars from 0.7505 dollars.

The dollar bought 108.37 Japanese yen, higher than 108.27 yen of the previous session. The dollar slipped to 0.9541 Swiss francs from 0.9555 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.2995 Canadian dollars from 1.3151 Canadian dollars.