NEW YORK, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar strengthened in late trading on Friday as market participants digested a key U.S. inflation report.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.35 percent to 102.5107.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0853 U.S. dollars from 1.0904 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.2336 dollars from 1.2388 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 132.71 Japanese yen, higher than 132.44 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9143 Swiss francs from 0.9138 Swiss francs, and it increased to 1.3530 Canadian dollars from 1.3519 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was up to 10.3730 Swedish Kronor from 10.3649 Swedish Kronor.

The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3 percent in February, in line with consensus, for a 5 percent year-on-year increase, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

The core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3 percent, slightly below the 0.4 percent consensus, for a 4.6 percent year-on-year increase.

"Overall, this report is good news after January's alarming re-acceleration, but market focus will shift to the March employment report next week and the two inflation reports that precede the Fed's May meeting," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note on Friday.