Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy statement due later in the day amid ongoing uncertainty over the timing of future rate hikes.
USD/JPY added 0.18% to 106.30, off the previous session’s one-and-a-half month low of 105.62.
The Fed was to conclude its two-day policy meeting later on Wednesday and investors were looking for fresh indications on whether the U.S. central bank still expects to raise interest rates twice this year.
Markets pushed back expectations for a summer rate hike by the U.S. central bank after a dismal U.S. employment report for May, which showed the slowest rate of jobs growth since September 2010.
EUR/USD rose 0.23% to 1.1232, pulling away from Tuesday’s one-week trough of 1.1188.
The dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.58% at 1.4196, after hitting two-month lows of 1.4088, and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.25% to 0.9657.
The pound strengthened after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate fell from 5.1% to 5.0% in the three months to April, the lowest level in more than a decade.
Average earnings excluding bonuses rose by 2.3% in the three months to April from a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 2.1% rise and up from 2.2% in the three months to March.
Earnings including bonuses rose by 2.0% on a year-over-year basis, unchanged from the previous three months. Economists had expected growth of 1.7%.
But sentiment on sterling remained fragile as a number of opinion polls showed that the U.K.’s EU referendum race is tightening ahead of the June 23 vote.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.49% at 0.7395 and with NZD/USD advancing 0.46% to 0.7027.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD shedding 0.23% to 1.2842.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.23% 94.82, off a one-and-a-half week high of 95.15 hit overnight.