1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar drops amid GDP report, Fed statement

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies on Wednesday amid weaker-than- expected GDP report from the country and the closely-watched Federal Reserve policy statement.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) rose at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter this year, according to an advanced estimate released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The first quarter GDP showed a sharp slowdown from the previous quarter's 2.2 percent pace and below market consensus of an increase of 1.0 percent.

The greenback was under further pressure as the newly-released Fed statement after its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday showed officials were mainly focused on the country's economic weakness in recent months. According to the statement, U. S. economic growth has "slowed" since last Fed meeting in March, lowering market expectations for an interest rate hike as soon as June.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.90 percent at 95.228 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1114 dollars from 1.0979 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.5430 dollars from 1.5337 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar went up to 0.8033 dollars from 0. 8015 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.01 Japanese yen, higher than 118.87 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar slipped to 0.9397 Swiss francs from 0.9542 Swiss francs, and it declined to 1.2012 Canadian dollars from 1.2031 Canadian dollars. Endite