NEW YORK, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar stayed nearly flat on Wednesday, as investors were waiting for Thursday's U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report for July.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, edged down 0.03 percent to 102.4884 in late trading.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the annual CPI for July is expected to rise to 3.4 percent. The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is forecast to climb to 4.9 percent.

"I think we're at the start of making the kind of progress the Fed wants to see to get inflation down to 2 percent," said Omair Sharif, founder and president of research and analysis firm Inflation Insights. "It's going to be bumpy, but we're on the right path to getting inflation down to 2 percent without any more Fed action."

On the economic front, U.S. mortgage applications decreased 3.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association Survey for the week ending Aug. 4.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury rate was at 4.02 percent on Wednesday, compared to 4.09 percent the previous market day.

In late New York trading, the euro was up to 1.0975 U.S. dollars from 1.0960 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.2724 U.S. dollars from 1.2746 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 143.6760 Japanese yen, higher than 143.3690 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.8773 Swiss francs from 0.8756 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3417 Canadian dollars from 1.3416 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar fell to 10.6838 Swedish Krona from 10.7000 Swedish Krona.