The U.S. dollar hit a seven-week low against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, following the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting which indicated that there were more policy committee members opposed to a near-term rate hike than those who were in favor of one.
The minutes were released on Wednesday afternoon and showed that despite the fact that most members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee were generally upbeat about the U.S. economic outlook, other policymakers foresee a slowdown in the future pace of job hiring and would side against an interest hike at this time. However, these board members are outnumbered by the more hawkish members who anticipate that economic conditions would soon warrant tightening policy.
The dollar's index against a basket of six major currencies touched a low of 94.385, its weakest level since June 24. The dollar index last stood at 94.627, having lost 1.1 percent so far this week.
Yen, Euro Up
The yen edged up 0.2 percent to 100.10 per dollar, rising as high as 99.645 at one point, nearing a seven-week peak of 99.55 to the dollar set on Tuesday.
According to Satoshi Okagawa, senior global markets analyst for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Singapore, the dollar will probably trade in a 99 yen to 102 yen range for a while but “if the dollar breaks below 99 yen, the market will enter its next phase."
The euro hit a seven-week high of $1.13285 and last traded at $1.1301, up 0.1 percent on the day. Sterling held steady at $1.3043.
Comments
Log in or sign up to join the conversation.