Dollar Waits In Silence

The dollar held steady against the German mark and edged higher against the Japanese yen in thin U.S. trading Wednesday as currency markets awaited a decision from the Federal Reserve on the course of American interest rates.

The dollar fell somewhat against most of the other major currencies.

“Nothing. Status quo. It was absolutely a nothing day,” said Pierre Sauvagnat, a vice president at Credit Lyonnais. “There has been no significant movement.”

All eyes were on the Fed’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee, which began a two-day parley Wednesday afternoon. < Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7285 1.3726 France .2070 4.8315 Germany .7244 1.3804 < Great Britain 1.5980 .6258 Italy .000612 1633.60 Japan .011799 84.75 Mexico .160064 6.2475