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The dollar has clawed back some ground against the euro ahead of the Fed policy statement, which is due at 1815 GMT. By mid morning London time, the euro was down 0.5 percent at $1.3156. Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets, said currency traders will be particularly interested to see if Fed rate-setter Thomas Hoenig changes his stance and cools his hawkish stance. "If he does change camps this could well undermine the dollar further," Hewson said. One of the reasons why the dollar has weakened over recent weeks is the seeming divergence between the policy positions of the Fed and the European Central Bank. While the Fed is facing some pressure to announce new policy measures, the ECB is seemingly better positioned to continue withdrawing emergency programs introduced during the recession and the government debt crisis. In Asia, the strong yen continued to hurt shares of Japanese exporters, with the Nikkei 225 stock average closing down 21.44, or 0.2 percent, at 9,551.05. By midmorning London time, the dollar was down 0.2 percent at 85.77 yen. The yen's rapid appreciation is clearly beginning to cause concern in Japan. Finance chief Yoshihiko Noda has warned that the monetary authorities in Tokyo are watching developments in the foreign exchange markets closely
-- that's a hint that something may be done to stem the export-sapping appreciation in the yen. Elsewhere South Korea's Kospi shed 0.5 percent to 1,781.13, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.2 percent to 4,540.70 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 1.5 percent to 21,473.60. Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 98 cents at $80.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 78 cents to settle at $81.48 on Monday.
[Associated
Press;
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