US dollar rises after Fed minutes

New York, Aug 20 (IANS) The US dollar strengthened in late trading on Wednesday as market participants pored through the newly-released meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.66 per cent at 92.8861.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to $1.1856 from $1.1936 in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to $1.3115 from $1.3240 in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to $0.7203 from $0.7243, Xinhua reported.

The US dollar bought 105.90 Japanese yen, higher than 105.39 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9136 Swiss franc from 0.9028 Swiss franc, and it rose to 1.3186 Canadian dollars from 1.3158 Canadian dollars.

The US central bank on Wednesday released minutes from its July meeting.

“Members agreed that the ongoing public health crisis would weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term and was posing considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term,” said the minutes.

“The dollar’s rise follows days of dollar weakness and likely reflects the lukewarm appetite for further policy accommodation despite the Fed’s concern for growth and inflation,” Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note on Wednesday, commenting on market reactions to the minutes.

–IANS

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