The dollar fell sharply against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve (Fed/FED) kept interest rates unchanged and Fed policymakers abandoned expectations of further interest rate increases this year as the economy was expected to slow down.
The Federal Reserve's policy guidelines have changed dramatically, and it is now expected to raise interest rates only once again by 2021. It is no longer expected that there will be a need to prevent inflation through restrictive monetary policies.
The dollar index fell 0.6% to 95.806, its lowest level since February 4.
The dollar fell 0.6% against the yen, its biggest one-day decline in more than two months.
"The dollar is under pressure against many currencies around the world," said Chuck Tomes, Manulife Asset Management's Deputy portfolio manager.
"Overall, the Federal Reserve seems to be able to consolidate its dovetail view because it is not expected to raise interest rates this year and only once in 2020," he said.
"This is much softer than people expected, even though the market had predicted that today's Fed statement would be dovish." Tomes said.
At the end of the two-day policy meeting, the Federal Reserve also said it would slow the monthly reduction in U.S. Treasury bond holdings from May to a maximum of $15 billion from a maximum of $30 billion a month.
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