The dollar held steady versus a basket of currencies on Wednesday as investors stepped cautiously ahead of a Federal Reserve policy review that could see the central bank drive home a dovish message.
Investors had knocked the dollar index down to a five-week trough of 81.49 earlier this week as they bet the Fed would seek to reassure markets that interest rates would stay low for a long time, even if it started scaling back stimulus this year. The Fed will release a policy statement at 1800 GMT, but there will be no news conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Some analysts say the Fed's policy statement may reiterate that any reduction to the central bank's monthly $85 billion purchases of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities will hinge on the economic outlook. Market players say such tapering could start in September at the earliest.
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) data due later on Wednesday is expected to show growth slowed to an annualized rate of just 1.0% in the second quarter, hardly a sign of a runaway recovery.
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