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Dollar steady in Asia before Fed meeting

Tokyo - The dollar held steady in Asia on Tuesday before the US Federal Reserve starts a two-day policy meeting that is expected to see it wind up its six-year-old stimulus programme.

The dollar edged up to ¥107.86 in afternoon Tokyo trade from ¥107.78 in New York.

The euro rose to $1.2701 and ¥137.00 from $1.2699 and ¥136.86 in US trade.

While bank policymakers are widely tipped to bring an end to the Fed's vast asset-buying programme, traders will be monitoring what they have to say about interest rates.

The Fed has repeatedly said the first rise would come "a considerable time" after the bond-buying stops, but investors want to know how its language will change once it has come to an end.

It had been expected to start lifting rates early next year, but recent turbulence in the global economy - with weakness from Japan to China to Europe - could see it hold off from any movement until much later.

The dollar will likely remain stuck in a tight ¥107.70 to ¥108.10 range in Asian trading ahead of the meeting, said Atsushi Hirano, head of forex sales Japan at RBS.

"It may take time (for the market) to get new cues," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

In Tokyo, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda repeated his view to lawmakers that its plan to hit 2.0% inflation was on track and that the weak yen was a "plus" for the world's number three economy. The BoJ holds a one-day policy meeting on Friday.

But his deputy, Kikuo Iwata, said achieving the inflation target next year cannot be as rigid as a "train schedule".

The euro managed to hold up against the dollar and yen after the European Central Bank said at the weekend that a better-than-expected 90% of lenders had passed a stress test on their overall health.

However, the unit's gains were capped after a closely watched survey of German business confidence fell for a sixth straight month, hitting its lowest level since December 2012.

READ: German business confidence slumps

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It rose to 32.44 Thai baht from 32.38 baht on Monday, to Tw$30.39 from Tw$30.38, to 61.36 Indian rupees from 61.21 rupees, to 12 147.00 Indonesian rupiah from 12 059.50 rupiah, and to 44.78 Philippine pesos from 44.75 pesos.

The dollar slipped to Sg$1.2740 from Sg$1.2746, and to 1 049.80 South Korean won from 1 052.35 won.

The Australian dollar bought 88.17 US cents against 88.13 US cents while the Chinese yuan was at ¥17.61 against ¥17.62.

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