Dollar Near 3-Week Low Versus Euro Before Fed Concludes Meeting

The dollar held near the lowest in three weeks against the euro before the Federal Reserve concludes a two-day meeting today when policy makers will decide whether to slow its $85 billion of monthly asset purchases.

The Federal Open Market Committee will reduce Treasury purchases to $40 billion, while continuing to buy $40 billion of mortgage backed securities, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index was 0.1 percent from a five week-low. The pound held a two-day loss against the euro before the Bank of England releases minutes today of its last meeting.

The dollar was little changed at $1.3350 per euro as of 10:12 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.3359 yesterday, when it fell 0.2 percent. It touched $1.3386 on Sept. 16, the weakest since Aug. 28. The U.S. currency bought 99.26 yen from 99.13. The 17-nation euro fetched 132.50 yen from 132.42. Sterling was little changed at 83.97 pence per euro, after having lost 0.3 percent in the past two sessions.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the performance of a basket of 10 major currencies, was little changed at 1,020.26 from 1,019.58 yesterday, the lowest closing level since Aug. 9.

(Source: Bloomberg)