* Fed may whet hunger for risky assets
* Stocks rise helped by strong Wall Street earnings
* Silver rebounds after sharp losses
By Saikat Chatterjee
HONG KONG, April 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar plumbed a
near 3-year low against other major currencies on Wednesday
before a Federal Reserve decision where it is expected to
reinforce its ultra-easy policy stance while stocks in Asia's
developed markets rose, tracking a strong close on Wall Street.
Market players added bearish dollar bets, especially against
the euro and the Swiss Franc on expectations the
Fed will cling to a near-zero interest rate policy even as it
lets a $600 billion bond purchase program wind down in June.
[]
"Focus will be on the inaugural press conference and whether
Bernanke is shifting along the dove-hawk scale," said Michael
Sneyd, analyst at Societe Generale.
"Attention will also be on comments for how the Fed may
respond to U.S. fiscal tightening. All-in-all, the meeting is
likely to give the green light for risk appetite and for dollar
bears to continue to be bearish."
The dollar index , which tracks its performance
against a basket of major currencies, hit the lowest since
August 2008 at 73.483, before cutting some losses in early Asian
trading.
Shares rose, taking a leaf from the robust gains posted by
U.S. indices overnight, which was helped by better than expected
performances from Ford Motor Co , 3M Co and United
Parcel Services Inc .
Japan's Nikkei was up more than a percent while
Australia's benchmark index rose after a five-day
holiday weekend. MSCI's index of Asia Pacific shares outside
Japan hovered just below a three-year peak hit
last week.
U.S. Treasury yields edged up after recent drops with the
10-year yield just above a one-month low of 3.32
percent before the Fed decision.
In commodity markets, spot silver paused
around the $46 per ounce level after falling by nearly 5 percent
overnight.
High volatility and the expiry of U.S. silver options added
to the intensity of the decline of the precious metal which
nearly doubled in value between the January lows and Monday's
peak.
Despite the sharp pullback in silver which rippled over into
other commodities, U.S. crude <CLc1> held above the $124 per
barrel line, rising from recent lows, as Libya's civil war and
violence-tinged unrest Syria and Yemen helped limit bearish
sentiment on a price slide.[] []
* For Reuters Global Investing Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting
* For the MacroScope Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope
* For Hedge Fund Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub
(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in SYDNEY; Editing by Kevin
Plumberg)
