Forexpros - The U.S. dollar remained mixed against its major counterparts on Thursday, as traders positioned themselves ahead of a policy decision by the Federal Reserve, amid speculation over what measures the U.S. central bank would take to stimulate the U.S. economy. During European afternoon trade, the dollar was modestly lower against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.07% to 1.2909. Market players eyed the outcome of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting later Thursday, amid growing speculation that the U.S. central bank may announce a third round of bond purchases, or quantitative easing, to boost sluggish growth in the world’s largest economy. Meanwhile, the euro found support after Italy saw borrowing costs collapse at an auction of government debt earlier in the day, reflecting growing optimism policymakers in the euro zone will do more to stem the region’s ongoing debt crisis. The single currency also remained supported after Germany’s constitutional court approved the country’s participation in the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the greenback was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD holding flat to trade at 1.6107. Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY shedding 0.25% to hit 77.66, nut higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.2% to trade at 0.9391. Earlier in the day, Swiss National Bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged in September and reaffirmed its commitment to the minimum exchange rate of CHF1.20 per euro. The central bank revised down its inflation forecast for 2012 to a 0.6% decline from an earlier estimate of a 0.5% drop. It also cut its 2012 growth forecast to 1% from a June projection of about 1.5%, saying that downside risks to the economy will remain high “in the near term.� Meanwhile, the greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD inching down 0.08% to 0.9754, AUD/USD falling 0.17% to 1.0447 and NZD/USD edging 0.3% higher to trade at 0.8235. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 2.50%, in a widely expected move. Commenting on the decision, RBNZ Chairman Allan Bollard said there was little need to raise borrowing costs until the second half of 2013 because of risks from the euro zone’s financial crisis and the outlook for New Zealand’s trading partners, including China. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.07%, trading at 79.83. Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish government data on producer price inflation, as well as a weekly report on initial jobless claims. The Federal Reserve was to announce its benchmark interest rate, followed by comments by Chairman Ben Bernanke.

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