- Dollar slips, euro gains
- U.S. retail sales strong
- Investors watch developments in Ukraine
(Updates to after Fed minutes)
The U.S. dollar index was down on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level since Friday after minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting suggested policymakers are not set on a particular pace of interest rate hikes.
According to the January meeting minutes released on Wednesday, Fed officials last month agreed that, with inflation widening its grip on the economy and employment strong, it was time to tighten monetary policy, but also that decisions would depend on a meeting-by-meeting analysis of data.
Strategists said the minutes suggested policymakers may not be as hawkish as investors feared. "Members were not as aggressive as some had expected, which is being reflected in the modest sell-off of the dollar," said John Doyle, vice president of dealing at Monex USA in Washington.
"We are taking these minutes with a grain of salt anyway, as the meeting happened before the recent CPI and PPI data, which were considerably higher than forecast."
Earlier this week, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard reiterated calls for a faster pace of Fed rate hikes, and stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data including Wednesday's U.S. retail sales data have helped to underscore that view.
Those expectations have helped to give support to the dollar in recent sessions. At the Fed's Jan. 25-26 meeting, policymakers agreed that it would "soon be appropriate" to raise the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate from its near-zero level.
The dollar index =USD was last down 0.3%, while the euro was up 0.2% at $1.1383 EUR=EBS . The U.S. dollar was down 0.4% against the Swiss franc CHF=EBS and down 0.2% against the Japanese yen JPY=EBS .
On the geopolitical front, the United States and NATO said Russia was still building up troops around Ukraine on Wednesday despite Moscow's insistence it was pulling back.
The Russian defense ministry said its forces were pulling back after exercises in southern and western military districts near Ukraine. The Russian rouble RUB= strengthened 0.73% versus the greenback to 75.14 per dollar.
Oil prices rallied earlier, and the Canadian dollar CAD= rose 0.33% versus the greenback to 1.27 per dollar.
Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3593, up 0.44% on the day. Data earlier showed UK inflation hit a nearly 30-year high of 5.5%.
The Bank of England has already raised interest rates twice since December, and financial markets expect a further rate rise on March 17 after the BoE's next meeting.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC=BTSP was down 0.7% at $44,271.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:28PM (2028 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index =USD 95.7290 96.0070 -0.28% 0.069% +96.0640 +95.6770 Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1383 $1.1359 +0.22% +0.14% +$1.1396 +$1.1345 Dollar/Yen JPY=EBS 115.4000 115.5950 -0.15% +0.26% +115.7800 +115.3550 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 131.37 131.28 +0.07% +0.81% +131.9000 +131.1200 Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.9213 0.9253 -0.44% +1.00% +0.9260 +0.9208 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 $1.3593 $1.3542 +0.39% +0.52% +$1.3600 +$1.3532 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2681 1.2717 -0.27% +0.30% +1.2725 +1.2665 Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 $0.7202 $0.7151 +0.69% -0.94% +$0.7205 +$0.7144 Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0487 1.0509 -0.21% +1.14% +1.0549 +1.0484 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8373 0.8388 -0.18% -0.32% +0.8402 +0.8366 NZ NZD=D3 $0.6687 $0.6639 +0.74% -2.29% +$0.6691 +$0.6636 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK=D3 8.8660 8.9025 -0.43% +0.62% +8.9120 +8.8575 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.0949 10.1061 -0.11% +0.83% +10.1447 +10.0896 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.2631 9.2840 +0.04% +2.72% +9.3155 +9.2465 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.5450 10.5408 +0.04% +3.04% +10.5841 +10.5228 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
