New York, Oct 22 (IANS): The US dollar increased against the euro as the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting scheduled for Thursday triggered heated discussions over whether the bank will unleash more stimulus in the euro zone.

In late New York trading on Wednesday, the euro fell to $1.1337 from $1.1339 in the previous session, and the British pound declined to $1.5425 from $1.5440 in the previous session, Xinhua reported. The Australian dollar decreased to $0.7223 from $0.7259.

In the previous session, however, the euro rose against the greenback as the latest euro zone economic data came out better than expected, dampening market speculation for more stimulus in the region as early as this month. Some analysts said the ECB will probably not ease policy till the end of this year.

The greenback rose against its six major peers on Wednesday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.12 percent at 95.030 in late trading.

The US dollar bought 119.95 Japanese yen, higher than 119.92 yen of the previous session.

The US dollar climbed to 0.9591 Swiss franc from 0.9565 Swiss franc, and it went up to 1.3117 Canadian dollars from 1.2985 Canadian dollars

ECB governor Mario Draghi said earlier this month that European Union is facing "significant" downside risks. He warned that should these risks persist, the Eurozone might have to resort to adjustments in its quantitative easing policy to see it through.