Dollar Mixed After Fed Keeps Interest Rate Unchanged

NEW YORK, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies in late New York trading on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rate unchanged for at least two years.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25 percent for at least two years, in an effort to support the fragile economy. However, the decision fell short of investors' expectations who had hoped a more aggressive stimulus by the central bank.

The European Central Bank continued to buy Spanish and Italian bonds on Tuesday, which helped to stimulate investors'confidence on the euro and lifted the currency.

The Swiss franc and Japanese yen continued to gain amid risk- aversion mood. The Swiss franc surprisingly surged more than 5 percent against the dollar to hit a record high.

The dollar index lost 0.76 percent to 74.22 on Tuesday.

In late Tuesday trading, the dollar bought 77.01 yen, comparing with 77.70 from late Monday, and the euro rose to 1.4222 dollars from 1.4190.

The British pound fell to 1.6220 dollars from 1.6353. The dollar fell from 0.7559 Swiss francs to 0.7141, but rose to 0.9938 Canadian dollars from 0.9921.