New York, Mar 4 (IANS): The US dollar declined in late trading on Tuesday after the US central bank's interest-rate cut.

The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday lowered the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1 to 1.25 per cent amid COVID-19 concerns, the Xinhua news agency reported.

In a surprise announcement, the Fed said that "in light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-setting body, decided to cut its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage point.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.20 per cent at 97.1600 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to $1.1175 from $1.1161 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to $1.2811 from $1.2776 in the previous session. The Australian dollar rose to $0.6595 from $0.6531.

The US dollar bought 107.23 Japanese yen, lower than 107.84 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.9570 Swiss franc from 0.9572 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3373 Canadian dollars from 1.3353 Canadian dollars.