NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) — The U.S. dollar inched higher in late trading on Friday, bolstered by the prospect of speedy policy tightening from the Federal Reserve.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.05 percent at 99.7960.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.0886 U.S. dollars from 1.0881 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was down to 1.3038 dollars from 1.3073 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7462 U.S. dollar from 0.7485 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 124.36 Japanese yen, higher than 123.96 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.9335 Swiss franc from 0.9338 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.2567 Canadian dollars from 1.2580 Canadian dollars.

The greenback has gained momentum recently as the latest Fed comments indicated a more aggressive pace of rate hikes.

The Fed’s March meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed the U.S. central bank leaning toward a 50 basis point rate hike at its May meeting.

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