The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates for the U.S. Federal Reserve, convened on Tuesday morning, Dow Jones confirmed.

The expectation among investors was that the financial authority would affirm a move to cease purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds in June on the strength of the economic recovery, reports the news source. In addition, the Fed was projected to keep interest rates at about zero, in a continuation of a loose financial policy.

As a result, reported the Wall Street Journal, the foreign-exchange-based dollar index was down at the end of the previous day's market activity and has sunk 6.6 percent in 2011. The euro gained on the dollar - and has risen more than nine percent so far this year - while the pound sterling dropped against the U.S. dollar.

Despite an improving housing market and uptick in consumer spending, the dollar remains weak. Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank, told the Wall Street Journal that the U.S.'s nonrestrictive monetary policy would keep the country's currency at a relatively low value.

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