UPDATES ON JUNE 25 2008

JUNE 25 WEDNESDAY

Dollar Trades Little Changed Before U.S. Interest-Rate Decision .

The dollar was little changed against the euro and yen

before the Federal Reserve ends a two-day meeting at

which policy makers are forecast to end a run of seven

interest-rate cuts.

The U.S. currency traded near a two-week low versus

the Australian dollar as traders reduced bets that the

central bank will increase rates from 2 percent this year

on signs the economy is still slowing. The Norwegian

krone approached the highest in two weeks on

speculation policy makers will raise borrowing

costs to 5.75 percent today.

The dollar was at $1.5556 per euro at 7:25 a.m. in London

from $1.5568 in New York yesterday. It touched $1.6019

on April 22, the lowest level since Europe's currency

debuted in 1999. The dollar traded at 107.92 yen from

107.82. Japan's currency was at 167.87 a euro from

167.85 yesterday, when it touched 168.38, the

weakest since July 23.

The U.S. currency slipped to 95.58 cents against

the Australian dollar from 95.54 cents in New York

yesterday, when it fell to 95.87 cents, the lowest

since June 9.

The dollar has gained 1.5 percent against the euro

this quarter as traders bet the economic slowdown

sparked by the collapse of the subprime-mortgage

market will spread to Europe as the U.S. recovers.

This year, the dollar is down 6.2 percent.

The dollar may weaken as the Commerce Department

will report today that new-home sales fell to an annual

pace of 512,000 in May, close to a 17-year low, according

to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.