1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rebounds after Fed decision

The U.S. dollar rose against most other major currencies on Friday, a day after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, as worries about a slowdown in global growth weighed on market.

The U.S. central bank held its benchmark rate near zero on Thursday, after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting. With no major economic data due out Friday, traders were still digesting the Fed's after-meeting statement.

"Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term," said the statement.

Most Fed officials, however, still expect a first rate increase this year, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said at the press conference Thursday, noting that 13 out of 17 Federal Reserve Board members and Federal Reserve Bank presidents are looking for a move in 2015.

Meanwhile, some analysts thought that fears about global growth set the tone after the Fed delayed normalizing monetary policy.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.30 percent at 94.832 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1351 dollars from 1.1405 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound declined to 1.5553 dollars from 1.5626 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7218 dollar from 0.7270 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.83 Japanese yen, lower than 120.16 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9642 Swiss franc from 0.9618 Swiss franc, and it gained to 1.3171 Canadian dollars from 1.3086 Canadian dollars. Endit