Dollar holds gains

TOKYO: The U.S. dollar held on to gains against a basket of its peers on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve gave an upbeat assessment of the world´s biggest economy and stayed on course to gradually lift interest rates.

The dollar was already well bid by concerns about a further escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade dispute and higher U.S. Treasury yields. After ending its two-day policy meeting, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged as widely expected, and said U.S. economic growth has been rising strongly and the job market has continued to strengthen. "The Fed delivered rather hawkish comments in the statement emphasizing the strength of the U.S. economy," said Osamu Takashima, head of G10 FX strategy, at Citigroup Global Markets Japan. "There was no big surprise in last night´s statement, but the overall tone was a little bit stronger than last one. "The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was a shade higher on Thursday compared to the previous day to trade at 94.700, well off a 3-1/2-week low of 94.084 hit last week. Global financial markets remained focused on the U.S.-driven international trade war, with U.S. administration officials saying on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is proposing a higher 25 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.