Currency markets saw little change ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcement later on Wednesday, with the dollar near unchanged against a basket of currencies, trading at 101.04 early Asian time. The yen traded at 115.1 against the greenback as of 8:19 am HK/SIN.
The gap kept the euro on the defensive at $1.0625, not far from the recent 20-month trough at $1.0505.
Investors are also keeping a close watch on the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting, starting Tuesday, with the central bank widely expected to lift interest rates for the only second time since the financial crisis.
A hike of 25 basis points is priced in, but investors will be examining the Fed's statement and economic forecasts for signs of the central bank's thinking about how Trump's election has affected the outlook for growth and inflation.
The market has priced in a 95.4 percent probability of a higher Fed rate, based on CME Group's 30-Day Fed Fund futures.
Markets are focused on the Fed's economic and rate "dot" plots for a sense of how policymakers think Trump's policies will affect growth and inflation.
"As most FOMC participants are likely to wait for more specifics on Trump's fiscal policy initiatives before formally altering their forecasts, markets may be disappointed by the lack of additional insight provided," said Michelle Girard, chief U.S. economist at RBSM.
"We expect most participants will continue to see two to three rate hikes as appropriate in 2017."
The Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed that an uptick in the sentiment of Japan's major manufacturers, with the headline index at plus 10 in the fourth-quarter, but expected to fall to plus 8 over the next three months.
Oil prices edged off earlier gains to end Tuesday nearly unchanged, as the support from OPEC's plan to limit production were undercut by an energy watchdog's assessment of how much those nations are currently producing.
U.S. crude CLc1 futures, which hit a high of $53.41 a barrel in early trading, settled up just 15 cents to $52.98 a barrel, losing ground late in the session. The contract was lately at $52.39 a barrel, down 44 cents.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled up three cents to $55.72 a barrel; it was lately off 47 cents to $55.21 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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