* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Saikat Chatterjee
LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The dollar held near a
seven-week high against the Japanese yen on Wednesday before the
outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting where officials are widely
expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage
point.
"The focus will be on the policy outlook and the Fed's dot
plots, and with market positioning broadly neutral, it should be
a quiet session for the dollar," said Thu Lan Nguyen, a currency
strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
Against the yen JPY= , the dollar edged up 0.1% to 108.23
yen, just below a seven-week high of 108.37 yen tested
overnight. The dollar index against a basket of other currencies
.DXY rose to 98.28.
The dollar has been driven more by trade tensions between
Washington and Beijing this year than by U.S. monetary policy.
The dollar has gained nearly 1% against the yen since the last
rate cut in July.
Morgan Stanley strategists believe that any dollar upside is
likely to be capped, because market expectations are not overly
dovish and a trade deal between the United States and China
seems likely.
A retreat in global oil prices also restored some calm to
markets. Oil prices fell in Asia, extending Tuesday's 6%
decline, after Saudi Arabia's energy minister said the kingdom
had tapped stockpiles to restore oil supplies to where they
stood before weekend attacks shut around 5% of global output.
The euro was steady at $1.10620, more than 1% above the
$1.0927 it reached last week, the lowest in more than two years.
After the Fed releases its policy decision, attention will
turn to the Bank of Japan's meeting ending on Thursday to see if
it follows its global peers by easing policy.
Deepening negative rates will be an option if the BOJ eases,
although the central bank may accompany that with measures to
mitigate the pain on financial institutions, sources have told
Reuters.
Dollar positions https://tmsnrt.rs/302mqb3
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