Dollar Eases Back Ahead Of Fed

The dollar eased back against major rivals in Asian trading hours on Tuesday, with the American central bank set to kick off a busy week for policy meetings.

The ICE dollar index DXY +0.02%, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 82.708, from 82.829 in late North American trading on Monday.

“Markets are once again hoping for clues as to the timing of the next round of economic stimulus in the face of recent tepid economic data,” said Michael Hewson, strategist at CMC Markets.

The U.S. Federal Reserve starts its two-day interest rate meeting later in the global trading day.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will both meet on Thursday to decide on interest rates. Read Fed preview.

ECB president Mario Draghi last week stirred up expectations for ECB action on Thursday by stating that the ECB will do what it takes to save the region from disintegration. Read more on Draghi comments.

The euro EURUSD +0.07% traded at $1.2279, from $1.2256 in late trading on Monday. while the British pound GBPUSD -0.12% reached $1.5718, from $1.5704 on Monday.

Against the Japanese yen USDJPY +0.14%, the dollar bought 78.25 yen, from ¥78.19 in late North American trading on Monday.

The Australian dollar AUDUSD +0.11% moved to $1.0527, from $1.0498 in late trading in the previous session.

The WSJ dollar index BUXX -0.00%, a recently launched gauge of the dollar’s performance against other heavily traded major currencies, traded at 71.72, from 71.81.

Marketwatch