By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch SYDNEY(MarketWatch) — The dollar lost ground against many of its rivals during Asian trading hours Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates on hold for at least two years. The U.S. dollar index DXY +0.19% , which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six rival currencies, slipped to 74.023, from 74.307 in North American trade late Tuesday. The greenback USDJPY -0.27% bought 76.81 Japanese yen, from ¥76.86 in North American trade late Tuesday. It came as Asian equity markets rebounded Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve signalled its policy intensions for steady rates until at least mid-2013. Read more on Asian markets. The Australian dollar AUDUSD +0.10% benefited from a revival of risk appetite, to buy $1.0324, up from $1.0195 in North American trade late Tuesday. Key Australian trading partner China said Wednesday its trade surplus widened sharply in July, boosted by above-forecast export growth. Read more about China’s trade surplus. The euro EURUSD -0.18% rose to $1.4344, from $1.4274 in North American trade late Tuesday. However, the dollar gained on the Swiss franc USDCHF +0.08% , to buy 72.83 centimes, compared with 71.58 centimes in North American trade late Tuesday. A centime is 1/100th of a Swiss franc. The British pound GBPUSD -0.26% changed hands at $1.6280, down 0.2% for the Asia session, according to FactSet data. Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.

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