NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. dollar weakened on Wednesday as widespread fears of a slowing global economy coupled with U.S. government's record-long shutdown clouded the prospect of the currency.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.19 percent at 96.12 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1382 dollars from 1.1362 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3063 dollars from 1.2956 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.7141 dollar from 0.7118 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 109.57 Japanese yen, higher than 109.29 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was down to 0.9947 Swiss franc from 0.9970 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3343 Canadian dollars from 1.3349 Canadian dollars. Enditem