The dollar traded higher at 96.6 on Wednesday, snapping four consecutive sessions of losses, after comments from Treasury Secretary Bessent pared back bets that the US would intervene in currency markets by selling the dollar against the yen. Bessent reiterated that the US has a longstanding preference for a strong currency and said it was “absolutely not” intervening in Japan’s currency markets. Early, the greenback had fallen to 2022-lows amid speculation of such an intervention and after President Trump said he was not concerned about the dollar’s recent decline. Additional pressure has come from renewed tariff threats and concerns over a potential government shutdown, fueling the so-called “sell America” trade. Meanwhile, the Fed left the federal funds rate unchanged, as expected, pausing after three consecutive rate cuts last year. The Fed also slightly upgraded its assessment of economic growth, reinforcing expectations that the next rate cut is likely to come in June only.