The euro vaulted to a 16-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, with no respite in sight seen for the greenback as long as the US Federal Reserve continues to lag other major central banks in raising interest rates. The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy making arm, starts its two-day meeting on Tuesday.
The euro was last up 0.3 percent at $1.4624, having earlier touched a 16-month high of $1.4653. The dollar index, which measures the currency's value against six major currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 73.900. Against the yen the dollar slipped to a four-week low of 81.56 yen, before recovering to trade at 81.90, down 0.1 percent. The Australian dollar was up 0.4 percent at $1.0770, very close to its 29-year high of $1.0777 struck on Monday. It had earlier fallen as commodities prices edged down.