U.S. Dollar Flat as Investors Wait for Fed Minutes

Investing.com - The greenback was flat on Wednesday, as investors waited for the Federal Reserve to release the minutes from its latest monetary meeting.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.06% to 96.292 as of 11:05 AM ET (16:05 GMT).

The Fed will release the minutes from its Jan. 30 policy meeting at 2:00 PM ET (19:00 GMT) Wednesday. Investors will pore over the minutes for further details on the central bank dropping its previous guidance about the likelihood of further interest rate increases.

Central bank officials have indicated that the rate is likely to remain steady for now. On Tuesday, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said she was in favor of ending the balance sheet wind-down this year, while at the same time saying official interest rates are more likely to go up than down.

U.S.-China trade talks also remain in focus, with meetings continuing this week, even as U.S. President Donald Trump restated that he would consider pushing back the March 1 deadline, when tariffs on Chinese goods increase to 25% from 10%.

The dollar was up against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY gaining 0.11% to 110.73. The yen is typically sought by investors as a safe haven during times of economic or market stress.

Elsewhere, the pound was up slightly, with GBP/USD, rising 0.03% to 1.3064 after Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell was reported by Bloomberg as saying the “the accord is being hammered out now.”

The euro was higher, with EUR/USD up 0.08% to 1.1349.

In Australia, the AUD/USD inched up 0.08% to 0.7168, while NZD/USD fell 0.19% to 0.6869, retreating from earlier gains from rising dairy prices.

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