Investing.com - The dollar dived to trade lower, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's previous meeting was released, as positive views regarding a rate hike from some Fed members came against concerns of the strength in the dollar, which could weigh on economic growth.
Fed Members' confidence in the business community was also highlighted in the minutes, as members' predicted that Trump's policy proposals could lead to an increase in economic growth, which may prompt the Fed into action.
"Many participants expressed the view that it might be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate again fairly soon" if data on jobs and inflation are "in line with or stronger than their current expectations," or if the risk increased that the Fed might overshoot its goals, the meeting summary stated.
The minutes were roughly in line with many market participants' expectations, after several Fed members’, including Fed Chief Janet Yellen, indicated that the Fed should tighten interest rates sooner rather later, should the U.S. economy continue to show robust growth.
The release of the Fed minutes reduced optimism regarding a March rate hike. According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool 17% of traders expect the Fed to raise interest rates at its next meeting in March, prior to the Fed minutes more than 20% expected a March rate hike.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 101.23, down 0.23%, after trading near its 1-week high during the session.
Elsewhere, U.S. equities moved sharply lower but quickly recovered, all three major U.S. indexes are roughly unchanged since the release of the minutes: The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded at 20,767 up 0.12% The S&P 500 climbed 0.05% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.15%.
Gold futures reversed early losses to trade up 0.06% at $1239.00