Dollar Trading Mixed Amid Italy Downgrade, Fed Meeting

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies in late New York trading Tuesday as Italian credit rating was downgraded and Federal Reserve began a two-day monetary policy meeting.

The rating agency Standard & Poor's cut Italian long-term sovereign ratings by one notch from A-plus to A, and left the ratings on negative outlook, saying that the European country's economy outlook is weak.

The euro was under pressure by the news in earlier trading Tuesday, but later recovered as European Commission said Greece has made "good progress" in talks with other European and international organizations over fiscal reforms.

The Federal Reserve started a two-day monetary policy meeting Tuesday. Many investors anticipated that the Fed will announce a plan to stimulate the sluggish economy.

The expectations weighed on the dollar as more liquidity meant cheap dollar. The dollar index lost 0.18 percent to 77 Tuesday.

In late Tuesday trading, the dollar bought 76.38 yen, comparing with 76.50 from late Monday, and the euro rose to 1.3688 dollars from 1.3671.

The British pound also rose to 1.5732 dollars from 1.5691. The dollar rose from 0.8825 Swiss francs to 0.8889, and also rose to 0. 9912 Canadian dollars from 0.9910.