1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar falls ahead of Fed meeting

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies Monday as investors lowered bet on an interest-rate hike as early as this month ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled later this week.

The recent mixed U.S. economic data and turbulent market performances globally have dragged down market expectation for the Fed to raise interest rate in its September policy meeting that starts Wednesday.

The greenback has retreated from its 12-year highs registered in March. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, hit a level of 94.913 Monday, its weakest since Aug. 26.

In late New York trading, the euro slipped to 1.1315 dollars from 1.1336 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.5432 dollars from 1.5427 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.7139 U.S. dollar from 0.7085 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 120.07 Japanese yen, lower than 120.55 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dived to 0.9683 Swiss franc from 0.9689 Swiss franc and increased to 1.3257 Canadian dollars from 1.3256 Canadian dollars. Endit