Awwal 21, 1432, April 25, 2011, SPA -- The dollar is mixed against other major currencies Monday ahead of a key meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers that could affect how investors think the central bank will act later this year, AP reported. The Fed, which meets Tuesday and Wednesday, is expected to say it will keep interest rates near zero and that its $600 billion bond-buying program, designed to help keep rates low, will continue until its scheduled end in June. The Fed's super-low rates have weighed on the dollar as other central banks begin raising interest rates because of inflation fears. Increasing rates tend to support demand for a country's currency. Investors will watch for hints Wednesday from the Fed's statement and from Chairman Ben Bernanke's first press conference about possible future actions to fight rising energy and food prices. Any «tightening» of monetary policy, which would make credit harder to get, could support the dollar. The current value of the dollar doesn't reflect the possibility that interest rates will rise as the Fed stops buying bonds, said UBS currency strategist Mansoor Mohi-uddin in a research note. -- SPA
