Wednesday, January 14, 2009

FOREX-Dollar takes breather after big Fed rate cut

MARKETS-FOREX (UPDATE 1):FOREX-Dollar takes breather after big Fed rate cut

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* Dollar little changed vs yen, not far from 13-year low

* Dollar pulls up from 2-A½ month trough vs euro

* Fed's historic rate cut seen keeping dollar pressured

By Masayuki Kitano

TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The dollar hovered near 13-year lows against the yen and 2-A½ month lows versus the euro on Wednesday after tumbling the previous day as the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to as low as zero.

In a historic move, the Fed on Tuesday cut its target for the federal funds rate to a range of zero to 0.25 percent, a record low, from 1.0 percent and said it was willing to keep rates low for an extended period.

The Fed said it would use "all available tools" to support the economy, and added that it was mulling possible purchases of longer-term U.S. Treasury debt and would consider other ways to tap its burgeoning balance sheet to support the economy.

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