The dollar nursed its steepest losses in weeks in Asian Market opening trades today, after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s benign inflation outlook hosed down expectations for a rate hike any time soon, pushing Treasury yields lower. Investors also remained on edge as Sunday’s deadline for the next round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods looms, and ahead of a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting and the UK election later today. The Fed was not as optimistic as people thought, and that is consistent with a lower U.S. dollar and the fall in bond yields that we saw. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the economic outlook for the U.S. was favorable as the central bank announced its decision to hold rates steady, as expected, though forecast only moderate and slowing growth through 2020 and 2021. New economic projections showed 13 of 17 Fed policymakers foresee no change in interest rates until at least 2021. In currencies today, the yen crept higher to 108.47 per dollar. The greenback hit its lowest in more than a month against the euro after the Fed meeting and sat just above that level at $1.1133 while the dollar\'s weakness helped Sterling drift higher to $1.3210. The onshore Chinese Yuan was stronger at 7.0303. The Indian Rupee opened stronger with a huge gap of almost 15 paisa at 70.69/70 against its previous session’s close of 70.84/85 and is expected to trade between 70.50 - 70.90 ranges today tracking weak dollar.
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