Dollar slides as Fed policy meeting starts The US dollar fell against other major currencies as the Federal Reserve embarked on a two-day meeting, with expectations high that the central bank would announce more measures to ease monetary policy. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of other major currencies, dipped 0.3 per cent to its weakest level this week as the Fed's Open Markets Committee prepared today's monetary policy statement. "Alongside its open-ended purchase of $40bn of agency mortgage-backed securities per month, we expect the Fed to announce that it will begin buying $40bn to $45bn of Treasury securities per month with maturities of more than six years," said analysts at Capital Economics. The euro was higher against the dollar following a successful auction of Spanish government debt as well as rising optimism on the German economy. The single currency rose more than 0.5 per cent to a five-day high of $1.3014. The euro also rose 0.4 per cent against the Swiss franc to SFr1.2124 to trade close to three-month highs after UBS, the Swiss bank, said it would charge a fee for short-term cash holdings by institutional clients, following a similar move by Credit Suisse. Analysts said the move increased speculation that the Swiss National Bank could announce more measures to weaken the franc when it meets on Thursday. "All these measures could dissuade investors and savers alike from depositing money in the Swiss franc and, by implication, make it easier for the SNB to announce and maintain a higher EUR/CHF floor," said Valentin Marinov, foreign currency strategist at Citigroup. However, he added: "We doubt that the SNB will take steps to cheapen the franc just yet and may wait to have more clarity on the evolving situation in the eurozone." The Japanese yen fell 0.2 per cent versus the dollar to Y82.52, lost 0.7 per cent against the euro to Y107.30 and 0.4 per cent against the Australian dollar to Y86.71.