Dollar climbs to 4-month highs, stocks dip before Fed

NEW YORK: The US dollar rose to four-month highs against a basket of major currencies and world stock indexes mostly edged lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting and possible indications on the interest rate outlook.

Forecast-beating results from the world's biggest company, Apple Inc, lifted tech shares, limiting losses in stocks.

Expectations that the Fed will signal more policy tightening ahead kept some investors cautious. The Fed is likely to announce at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) that it is holding interest rates steady, but it could encourage expectations of a rate increase in June.

A hawkish-sounding Fed could further boost the dollar, which has roared higher in recent weeks, erasing its year-to-date losses versus a basket of currencies. The gains came amid  signs the Fed will be the only major central bank to raise rates in the coming months.

The Fed may be reluctant to increase market expectations of further tightening until it sees more data, however. Markets are currently pricing in an additional two rate hikes this year.

"I don't think the Fed is going to want markets to price in more tightening at this point," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar index rose 0.16 percent, with the euro down 0.18 percent to $1.1971.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59.28 points, or 0.25 percent, to 24,039.77, the S&P 500 lost 5.9 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,648.9 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.99 points, or 0.06 percent, to 7,134.69.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.60 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe  shed 0.06 percent.

Apple, the world's biggest company by market capitalization, beat profit and revenue expectations in the first quarter, thanks to robust iPhone sales, and it announced a $100 billion share buyback.

Apple shares rose 4.0 percent. Chipmakers STMicroelectronics , Infineon, BE Semiconductor and ASML also gained, enjoying the positive mood about the sector.

U.S. Treasury yields hovered near four-year highs. Data earlier showed U.S. private-sector payrolls for April came roughly in line with market forecasts.

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 1/32 in price to yield 2.9719 percent, down from 2.976 percent late on Tuesday.

In the oil market, U.S. crude fell 0.21 percent to $67.11 per barrel and Brent was last at $72.55, down 0.79 percent on the day.