The U.S. dollar advanced against most major currencies Friday as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen cited faster labor market recovery in a speech.
In the speech at the annual summit of global central bankers, the Fed chief maintained her dovish posture. However, she said faster recovery in the labor market could accelerate the timing of an interest rate hike.
With the economy getting closer to the Fed's objectives, the central bank's emphasis is "naturally shifting" to the question about "under what conditions we should begin dialing back our extraordinary accommodation," said Yellen.
Following Yellen's speech, the spot rate of the dollar, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rallied to the highest level in 11 months.
The dollar also strengthened when the minutes of Fed's latest meeting Wednesday showed officials discussed withdrawing monetary easing measures. The minutes said "many participants noted that if convergence toward the committee's objectives occurred more quickly than expected, it might become appropriate to begin removing monetary policy accommodation sooner than they currently anticipated."
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.3241 dollars from 1.3281 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.6577 dollars from 1.6585 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9317 dollars from 0.9302 dollars.
The dollar bought 103.93 Japanese yen, higher than 103.80 yen of the previous session. The dollar went up to 0.9138 Swiss francs from 0.9114 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.0947 Canadian dollars from 1.0946 Canadian dollars.