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NEW YORK, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar ended lower against other major currencies on Friday as investors continued to digest the relatively dovish Federal Reserve statement.
The Fed decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.75-1.0 percent, according to a statement released after its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
The Fed's updated projections showed that policymakers expected the interest rate to rise to around 1.4 percent at the end of 2017, unchanged from the original estimates, implying two more rate-hikes later this year.
Analysts said the greenback was under pressure for a third session on Friday as the statement failed to signal a faster pace of future rate-hikes.
Investors also kept a close eye on the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, which kicks off on Friday in Baden-Baden, Germany.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.12 percent at 100.240 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0752 dollars from 1.0710 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.2397 dollars from 1.2346 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar increased to 0.7713 U.S. dollar from 0.7667 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 112.62 Japanese yen, lower than 113.40 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 0.9964 Swiss franc from 0.9978 Swiss francs, and it edged down to 1.3332 Canadian dollars from 1.3334 Canadian dollars.
