US dollar rallies after Fed official\'s speech

The U.S. dollar gained against most other currencies Friday as Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein said September policy-making meeting is a possible time for Fed to consider tapering its bond buying program. Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein said on Friday that the September policy-making meeting is a possible time for the central bank to consider winding down its bond buying program. He told the audience that September Fed will give primary weight to the large stock of news that has accumulated since the inception of the program. Also on Friday, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker noted in a speech that volatility in asset prices should not hinder the economic recovery, when commenting market moves on the prospect of monetary policy in coming months. On the economic front, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan\'s final reading of the U.S. consumer confidence index in June stood at 84.1, just slightly lower than a near six-year high in May, beating market consensus of 83. However, the Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI) declined to 51.6 in June, the largest monthly drop since October 2008, and down from a 14-month high of 58.7 in May, according to the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago. In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.3018 dollars from 1.3048 dollars of the previous session and the British pound decreased to 1.5212 dollars from 1.5261 dollars. The Australian dollar slipped to 0.9157 dollars from 0.9278 dollars. The dollar bought 99.18 Japanese yen, higher than 98.39 yen of the previous session. It edged down to 0.9438 Swiss francs from 0. 9447 Swiss francs and moved up to 1.0504 Canadian dollars from 1. 0480 Canadian dollars.