Investing.com - The dollar moved higher against the yen on Thursday amid mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve could start to scale back stimulus measures at its upcoming policy meeting next week. During European morning trade, USD/JPY was up 0.41% to 102.84, re-approaching the seven month high of 103.38 struck Tuesday. The dollar was boosted by expectations that an agreement on a two year U.S. budget deal would prompt the Fed to begin tapering its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program at its policy meeting scheduled for December 17 - 18. The euro pulled back from six week highs against the dollar, with EUR/USD dipping 0.07% to 1.3774, off Wednesday’s highs of 1.3794. The pound moved higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.18% to 1.6406, near Tuesday’s highs of 1.6466, the strongest level in 27 months. The dollar eased up to session highs against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.17% to 0.8878. The Swiss franc touched session lows against the dollar and the euro after the Swiss National Bank said it was maintaining the minimum exchange rate on the franc at 1.20 per euro and its benchmark interest rate unchanged at zero, after its final policy meeting of the year. The Swiss franc is “still high� the bank said. The greenback was broadly lower against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD up 0.15% to 0.9062, NZD/USD advancing 0.59% to 0.8305 and USD/CAD sliding 0.22% to 1.0564. New Zealand’s dollar strengthened after Reserve Bank of New Zealand left rates on hold at 2.5% earlier Thursday and indicated that rate hikes may be necessary as inflation pressures increase. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.10% to 79.95.

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