Dollar rises before Fed minutes

The dollar remained higher against other major currencies on Wednesday, before the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting for the month of July, which may give more indications on the pace of raising interest rates again.

The dollar has recouped its losses since lower-than-expected inflation data last week led investors to bet that price hikes may have peaked, sending the dollar lower.

Several Federal Reserve officials indicated over the past week that the Fed will continue to act decisively to combat inflation, which will help lift the dollar again.

The dollar index settled on Wednesday at 106.510 points. It rose about two percent after falling last week following inflation data, but it is still two percent above a two-decade high of 109.29 hit in mid-July.

The euro was also unchanged at 1.01785 against the dollar, ahead of the final reading of the euro zone’s second-quarter GDP due later on Wednesday, after preliminary data showed faster-than-expected growth despite declining expectations.

The pound rose 0.2 percent to $1.21155 after official data showed that consumer price inflation in Britain jumped to 10.1 percent in July, its highest level since February 1982.

The New Zealand dollar jumped 0.6 percent after the country’s central bank announced that it would raise interest rates by 50 basis points in a row to 3 percent, without giving any indication of recession.

But the New Zealand dollar later reversed course and fell 0.4 percent on Wednesday at $0.63210.

The Australian dollar fell 0.7 percent to $0.69750 after wage data showed growth just below expectations and well below inflation.

The yen fell 0.4 percent to 134,785 per dollar after data showed Japan’s trade gap widening following a record rise in imports in July.