• Dollar weakened on Tuesday, while traders were turning their attention to a two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve starting later in the day for clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 100.380.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday in its first policy decision since President Donald Trump took office, as the central bank awaits greater clarity on his economic policies.
• The Bank of Japan maintained its monetary policy as widely expected at its first meeting of this year on Tuesday and upgraded its economic outlook, while leaving its inflation forecast unchanged.
The BoJ board also decided to maintain the -0.1 percent interest rate on current accounts that financial
institutions maintain at the bank.
The central bank will purchase government bonds so that the yield of 10-year JGBs will remain at around zero percent.
The bank expects inflation move closer to 2 percent as the aggregate supply and demand balance improves and medium- to long-term inflation expectations rise.
• Oil prices fell on Tuesday as rising U.S. drilling activity offset efforts by OPEC and other producers to cut output in a move to prop up the market.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.13 per barrel at 0752 GMT, down 10 cents from their last close. Since their January peak, Brent has lost some 5.6 percent in value.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were at $52.45 a barrel, down 28 cents from their previous settlement, and WTI is down around 2.8 percent since its January peak.
Reference: Reuters, RTTNews
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