The dollar was stronger for the second day running, gaining around a third of a percent against the basket of currencies used to measure its broader strength. .DXY.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies and 0.3 percent versus the euro. However, the greenback dipped around a third of a percent against the yen, which tends to benefit when investors grow more worried about global political risks. JPY= Against sterling, the dollar gained 0.1 percent to $1.2466. GBP=
U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes due later on Wednesday could either reinforce or undermine recent hawkish comments from central bank policy makers that have raised bets on a rise in rates as early as next month.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said late on Monday in a speech in Singapore that she would be comfortable raising rates at this point if the economy maintained its current performance.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker also told reporters on Monday that he would support a rate increase at a mid-March policy meeting as long as inflation, output and other data continued to show the U.S. economy is growing.
“The dollar was pushed up by the Fed talk, but its upside (was) heavy in the Asian session, due to factors including Japanese companies’ seasonal repatriation,” said Mitsuo Imaizumi, chief currency strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.
“We’re all waiting for the minutes, to see if members talked about reducing the Fed’s balance sheet,” he said.
Meanwhile, the British Pound Sterling dipped 0.1 percent to $1.2448 after revised data showed the UK economy grew at its fastest pace in a year in the last three months of 2016 but by less than previously estimated for the whole of 2016.
