Dollar mixed amid European uncertainties

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against most major currencies in late New York trading on Wednesday as European leaders are expected to finalize a definitive plan to resolve European debt crisis this weekend and Federal Reserve's Sept. Beige Book showed U.S. economy slightly grew. The European leaders are expected to meet this weekend to discuss how to resolve European debt crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the meeting won't be the final step needed to regain market confidence, but it is an important step leading in that direction. Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the European bail out fund could be leveraged to around 1 trillion euros, which stimulated investor's confidence that the increased fund may help fix the euro zone debt crisis. The euro fluctuated amid mixed news on Wednesday. The shared currency rose 0.04 percent against the dollar. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book of Sept. showed that economy slightly improved in most areas in the U.S., while consumer spending also rose slightly. The news helped to boost investors' confidence on the U.S. economy. The U.S. Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 0. 3 percent in September, bolstered by rising gasoline and groceries prices. The Commerce Department said housing start rose 15 percent to 658,000 in September, suggesting the housing markets may pick up momentum. The dollar slightly changed as the dollar index edged down 0.02 percent to 77.13. The minutes of Britain's central bank's latest monetary policy meeting showed that all members of the Monetary Policy Committee agreed to purchase additional 75 billion British pound asset over the next four months. The news weakened the pound in early trading on Wednesday, however, the pound rallied later, supported by the fear of inflation. In late Wednesday trading, the dollar bought 76.78 Japanese yen, comparing with 76.76 from late Tuesday. The euro rose to 1.3748 dollars from 1.3747. The British pound rose to 1.5813 dollars from 1.5734. The dollar rose from 0.8981 Swiss francs to 0.9091, but fell to 1.0122 Canadian dollars from 1.0162.