The dollar fell in Asian trading on Wednesday as investors anticipate the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting for signs of the pace of interest rate hikes, while the euro attend to losses, still pressured by European political woes.
The Fed minutes which is to be released later on Wednesday, are on the eyes of investors as they could reinforce or undermine recent hawkish comments from central bank policy makers.
According to a speech given in Singapore by Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester on Monday, she would be comfortable raising rates at this point if the economy continues with its current performance.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker also told reporters on Monday that he would support an increase in interest rate at a mid-March policy meeting as long as inflation, output and other data until then continue to show that the economy is growing.
The dollar was lower at 113.56 yen or 0.1 percent, edging away from last week’s peak of 114.995 yen, the highest since late January.
Mitsuo Imaizumi, chief currency strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo, said “The dollar was pushed up by the Fed talk, but its upside is heavy in the Asian session, due to factors including Japanese companies' seasonal repatriation”
"We're all waiting for the minutes, to see if members talked about reducing the Fed's balance sheet," Mitsuo said.
The euro is still pressured by market concerns surrounding the anti-European Union rhetoric from French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen ahead of the first round of French elections on April 23.
After falling to an overnight low of $1.0526, the euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.0547.
The dollar index, which gauges the dollar against other major currencies, slightly fell at 101.35 after an overnight six-day high of 101.600.