1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar dips ahead of Fed statement

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies on Tuesday as investors were awaiting the Federal Reserve statement due out Wednesday.

The U.S. central bank kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and will release a statement Wednesday.

It is widely expected that the Fed won't take any rate action at this meeting amid recent oil weakness. However, investors will look into the central bank's statement for further clues on the economic environment and the future path of tightening.

On the economic front, U.S. consumer confidence came out positive. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 98.1 in January, up from 96.3 in December and above market consensus of 96.0.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.27 percent at 99.093 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0849 dollars from 1.0837 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4359 dollars from 1.4259 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar inched up to 0.7014 dollar from 0.6972 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 118.48 Japanese yen, lower than 118.49 yen of the previous session. The greenback rose to 1.0180 Swiss francs from 1.0155 Swiss francs, and decreased to 1.4081 Canadian dollars from 1.4238 Canadian dollars. Endit