The U.S. dollar continued to advance against most major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday after the Federal Reserve stuck to its timeframe of hiking interest rates sometime in the middle of 2015.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it will "be patient" in determining when to raise interest rates, a subtle change in language from its previous vow to keep rates near zero for a "considerable time."

Nearly all Fed officials see a rate hike in 2015, but policymakers think increases will be even more gradual than early projections.

"Based on its current assessment, the Federal Open Market Committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy," the Fed said.

Addressing a post-decision press conference, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that the new language is not a change in policy, and was only taken to reflect the improving economy.

On Wednesday, the U.S. dollar rose 2.15 percent against the yen, 0.91 percent against the Swiss franc, 1.34 percent against the euro and 1.11 percent against the pound.

In the Asian trading today, the U.S. dollar rose to a 9-day high of 0.9746 against the Swiss franc and a 3-day high of 118.99 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.9728 and 118.60, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.98 against the Swiss franc and 122.00 against the yen.

Against the euro and the pound, the greenback edged up to 1.2319 and 1.5561 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.2340 and 1.5572, respectively. On the upside, 1.22 against the euro and 1.54 against the pound are seen as the next resistance levels for the greenback.

Looking ahead, Swiss SECO economic forecasts for December and trade balance report for November are due to be released shortly.

In the European session, German IFO business climate index for December and U.K. retail sales data for November are due to be released.

In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended December 13, Flash U.S. Markit's services PMI for December, leading indicators for November and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing index for December are due to be released.

Euro vs US Dollar (FX:EURUSD)
Forex Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Euro vs US Dollar Charts.
Euro vs US Dollar (FX:EURUSD)
Forex Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Euro vs US Dollar Charts.