Dollar Holds on to Gains Ahead of Fed Meeting
The dollar held on to slight gains against the euro on Wednesday as investors expect the Federal Reserve will pause its current string of interest rate cuts after one more quarter point decline today.
The dollar traded at $1.5568 per euro at 1:26 p.m. in Tokyo from $1.5572 late Tuesday, when it rose as high as $1.5541. The dollar was at 104.06 yen from 104.02 yesterday. The Japanese currency was little changed at 161.94 versus the euro.
There is an 80 percent chance that the Fed will cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2 percent, and a 70 percent chance that it will stay unchanged until June, according to a Bloomberg analysis of futures trades on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Looking ahead later in the day, the Commerce Department will release its report on the gross domestic product for the first quarter. Tuesday, a report on consumer confidence in the U.S. indicated that it had dropped to its lowest level in five years.
Early Tuesday, the dollar was strengthened by a report indicating that consumer confidence in France fell in April.
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