NEW YORK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. dollar increased in late trading on Thursday, as investors continued to digest messages from the just-concluded policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged and downplayed concerns about weak inflation, as the central bank saw no need to alter its "patient" approach on interest-rate moves.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.14 percent at 97.8228 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.1175 U.S. dollars from 1.1194 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.3027 dollars from 1.3044 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.6997 dollar from 0.7011 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 111.49 Japanese yen, lower than 111.59 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 1.0193 Swiss francs from 1.0181 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3470 Canadian dollars from 1.3450 Canadian dollars. Enditem