US dollar dips amid Fed minutes

New York: The US dollar ticked down slightly as investors scrutinized the September policy meeting minutes released by the US Federal Reserve.

In late New York trading on Wednesday, the euro was up to $1.0974 from $1.0954 in the previous session, and the British pound was down to $1.2211 from $1.2217 in the previous session, Xinhua reported.

The Australian dollar decreased to $0.6726 from $0.6730.

The US dollar bought 107.54 Japanese yen, higher than 107.12 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9959 Swiss franc from 0.9938 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3330 Canadian dollars from 1.3318 Canadian dollars.

The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s rate-setting arm, decided to slash its benchmark interest rates by a quarter point at the September 17-18 meeting, lowering the overnight funds rate to a target range of 1.75 per cent to 2 per cent.

“It might become necessary for the Committee to seek a better alignment of market expectations regarding the policy rate path with policymakers’ own expectations for that path,” said the minutes.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.01 per cent at 99.1212 in late trading.