The dollar inched higher on Thursday, with expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike this year kept alive by a policy meeting that also pointed the way to a trimming of the huge emergency funds pumped into the economy since 2009. As widely expected, the Fed raised interest rates a quarter percentage point to a target range of 1.0-1.25 percent on Wednesday but it also gave its first clear outline on its plan to reduce its $4.2-trillion bond portfolio. By 0806 GMT, the index which measures the dollar's broader strength was up 0.2 percent at 97.145. The euro was 0.3 percent lower at $1.1191, down a full cent from a seven-month peak of $1.1296 scaled overnight. The Australian dollar rose 0.2 percent to $0.7599, moving back toward its 2-1/2-month high of $0.7636 hit on Wednesday, after a better-than-forecast employment report. Shares fell in Asia on Thursday, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.2 percent to 19,838.86 and South Korea's Kospi sank 0.6 percent to 2,358.66. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 1.0 percent to 25,621.26 and Shanghai's Composite index edged 0.1 percent lower to 3,128.21. The S&P ASX 200 in Australia tumbled 1.2 percent to 5,761.00. Shares in Southeast Asia also were mostly lower. Oil futures plunged overnight after the U.S. government said oil supplies shrank only slightly last week while gasoline stockpiles grew. Benchmark U.S. crude fell another 2 cents to $44.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $1.73, or 3.7 percent, to settle at $44.73 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rebounded, gaining 6 cents higher to $47.06 a barrel. It had shed $1.72, or 3.5 percent, to close at $47 a barrel in London. The dollar rose to 109.64 from 109.57 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1218 from $1.1217.
