Dollar rises slightly against most major currencies

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

NEW YORK, March 17 (Chinese media) -- The dollar rose slightly against most major currencies on Tuesday as investors chose to be cautious ahead of rate decisions from the U.S. and Japan.

Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking body of the U.S. Federal Reserve, began a two-day meeting on Tuesday. Analysts expected that the U.S. central bank would hold key rate unchanged at a level near zero and announce more plans to stabilize the financial system.

The Bank of Japan also started a two-day policy board meeting on Tuesday. It was expected to hold key rate at a record low level of 0.1 percent. The Japan's central bank said on Tuesday that it was considering lending up to one trillion yen (about 10 billion dollars) to commercial banks in a latest effort to revive lending.

U.S. privately-owned housing starts in February rose unexpectedly by 22.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

Risk appetite in foreign exchange market was boosted by the report in early trading, but faded later as investors focused on monetary policy meetings in the U.S. and Japan.

The euro bought 1.3005 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.2981 dollars it bought late Monday. The pound fell to 1.4026 dollars from 1.4085 dollars.

The dollar rose to 1.2703 Canadian dollars from 1.2688 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1831 Swiss francs from 1.1863 Swiss francs. It rose to 98.46 Japanese yen from 98.27 Japanese yen.