1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar declines amid Fed meeting

The U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies on Tuesday as investors were closely watching the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.

Fed officials gathered Tuesday in a monetary policy meeting which is expected to give more clues about the timing of the central bank's first rate hike in almost a decade.

The greenback dropped slightly against most major peers on concerns that the Fed may be cautious in removing the pledge of remain "patient" about raising rates in Wednesday's statement. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.02 percent at 99.582 in late trading.

On the economic front, U.S. private-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 897,000, 17 percent below the revised January estimate of 1,081,000, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0600 dollars from 1.0583 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound slipped to 1.4754 dollars from 1.4834 dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7626 dollars from 0.7642 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 121.39 Japanese yen, lower than 121.40 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar edged down to 1.0066 Swiss francs from 1.0078 Swiss francs, and it declined to 1.2775 Canadian dollars from 1.2778 Canadian dollars. Endite