US DOLLAR ON DEFENSIVE

Pressure comes after Fed raises interest rates but policy outlook remains unchanged.

Singapore : The dollar remained on the defensive recently, having tumbled after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected, but left its rate outlook for the coming years unchanged.

There was limited reactions among major currencies after China raised interest rates marginally, in the wake of the Fed's move.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, eased 0.1% to 93.372 after falling 0.7% on Wednesday.

The Fed raised key short term rates by a quarter point to a range of 1.25-1.50% on Wednesday. The Fed projected three more hikes in both 2018 and 2019, unchanged from the last round of forecasts in September.

Traders and analysts said that the Dollar came under pressure after the Fed's policy announced as the US central bank kept its interest rate projections steady rather than revising them higher.

Some market participants had speculated that the Fed could raise its interest rate projections for next year to four rate hikes, said Stephen Innes, head of trading in Asia-Pacific for Oanda in Singapore.

''From the market perspective, anybody who was leaning that way basically ran for the exit,'' Innes said, referring to the dollar's drop after the Fed meeting.

Against the yen, the dollar inched up 0.1% to 112.62 yen, after sliding 0.9% on Wednesday and having retreated from Tuesday's four-week high of 113.75 yen.

The euro edged up to 0.1% to US$ 1.1836, having climbed 0.7% on Wednesday.