TOKYO:

The dollar slipped against the yen and most emerging currencies Wednesday as markets focus on the Federal Reserve's first meeting of the year. The US central bank is not expected to announce any change in monetary policy after the meeting ends later Wednesday, following its historic interest rate raise in Dec. But dealers will pore over its post-meeting statement looking for signs that it will back off its signal of four interest rate hikes this year, which would support the dollar. "If the Fed sounds too dovish a chord, they'll lose the option to raise rates in March," Masato Yanagiya, head of foreign-exchange and money trading at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, told media.