U.S. dollar edges up amid Fed Beige Book, economic data

NEW YORK, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar index climbed slightly in late trading on Wednesday, as investors digested the newly-released "Beige Book" from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a slew of Economic data.

According to the "Beige Book," a periodic Economic snapshot that was released in the afternoon, 10 of the Federal Reserve's 12 districts saw "slight-to-moderate" growth in late January and February, while St. Louis and Philadelphia reported "flat Economic conditions."

About half of the Districts noted that the partial federal government shutdown in late December and most of January had led to slower Economic activity in some sectors including retail, auto sales, tourism, real estate, restaurants, manufacturing, and staffing services, said the Beige Book.

On the Economic front, U.S. private sector employment saw a growth of 183,000 in February, strong but likely near the high watermark of expansion, payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Wednesday.

According to the ADP, payrolls in service-providing industries rose by 139,000, while goods producers added 44,000 jobs.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.0025 percent at 96.8723 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.1307 dollars from 1.1302 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.3171 dollars from 1.3170 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7027 dollar from 0.7085 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 111.80 Japanese yen, lower than 111.89 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 1.0049 Swiss francs from 1.0045 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3420 Canadian dollars from 1.3345 Canadian dollars.