The U.S. dollar traded in a narrow range yesterday in Asia as cautious investors kept to the sidelines ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting. The dollar stood at 85.55 yen during Tokyo afternoon trade, down from 85.70 yen in New York Monday. The euro edged up to US$1.3095 from US$1.3060 and 112.03 yen from 112.00 in New York. The crisis-struck U.S. economy has regained some momentum since the Fed last met in late June, but the recovery remains fragile and joblessness high heading into elections for Congress in November. Many traders were betting that the Fed would need to see another round of negative U.S. data before it might ease monetary policy further, a scenario that would pressure the dollar. "We suspect it will take further clear deterioration in U.S. economic data for the Fed to consider additional quantitative easing measures," Mike Jones, currency strategist at the Bank of New Zealand, told Dow Jones Newswires. "As such, there is unlikely to be much change in the Fed's language. If we're right, a mild bounce in U.S. bond yields and the U.S. dollar could be in the offing," he said. The dollar was mostly lower against other Asian currencies. It fell to 1,157.85 South Korean won from 1,161.30 on Monday and to 1.3336 Singapore dollars from 1.3344. The greenback also fell to 8,962.50 Indonesian rupiah from 8,977.63, to 44.00 Philippine pesos from 44.17 and to NT$31.62 from NT$31.66. But the dollar rose to 30.77 Thai baht from 30.73.

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