Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Wednesday, but still remained within close distance of a two-month peak as investors awaited the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.
The dollar was fractionally lower against the yen, with USD/JPY easing 0.09% to 120.35.
The Fed was not expected to raise interest rates later Wednesday, but many investors still expected the U.S. central bank to signal that rates could still rise at its December meeting.
Data on Tuesday showing that a key measure of U.S. business investment plans fell for a second straight month in September curtailed expectations for higher interest rates.
Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for company spending on equipment, fell 0.3% in September after a 1.6% decline in August.
Another report showed that U.S. consumer confidence declined this month.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 97.6, missing forecasts of 103.0.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by diverging monetary policy expectations between the Fed and other world central banks.
EUR/USD edged up 0.13% to trade at 1.1059.
Sentiment on the single currency remained fragile after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled that further monetary easing is likely later this year.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5296 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF shedding 0.32% to 0.9833.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.74% at 0.7136 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.55% to 0.6726.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday that the consumer price index rose 0.5% in the third quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.6% gain and after an increase of 0.7% in the three months to June.
Year-on-year, consumer prices rose 1.5% in the last quarter, below expectations for a 1.7% rise.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD slid 0.31% to trade at 1.3227.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.17% at 96.87, still close to Friday's two-month highs of 97.30.