U.S. dollar ticks up

NEW YORK, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar rose in late trading on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, gained 0.5 percent to 109.090 at 3:00 p.m. (2000 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.0309 U.S. dollars from 1.0355 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.2357 dollars from 1.2490 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 158.46 Japanese yen, higher than 157.78 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9117 Swiss francs from 0.9086 Swiss francs, and it climbed to 1.4389 Canadian dollars from 1.4347 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar advanced to 11.1612 Swedish Kronor from 11.1091 Swedish Kronor.