Investing.com - The dollar weakened against the other main currencies on Thursday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting indicated that rates are likely to remain on hold for some time.
USD/JPY touched lows of 101.64 and was last down 0.29% to 101.69, not far from the three-week low of 101.54 reached Tuesday.
The Fed’s March meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that policymakers discussed whether to keep interest rates at record lows until inflation moves higher, and did not elaborate on a possible timeframe for when rates could start to rise.
The minutes also indicated growing concerns among officials over persistently low inflation.
Last month the U.S. central bank reduced the monthly pace of purchases by $10 billion, to $55 billion, and repeated it is likely to continue paring the program in “further measured steps.”
Elsewhere, EUR/USD touched highs of 1.3871, the strongest since March 24 and was last trading at 1.3854.
Sterling rose to four-and-a-half year peaks of 1.6820 against the dollar and GBP/USD was last trading at 1.6781. The dollar slid to three-week lows against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF dipping 0.07% to 0.8788.
The Australian dollar rose to fresh four-and-half month highs, with AUD/USD advancing 0.51% to 9437. The Aussie was boosted after official data on Thursday showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 18,100 in March, exceeding expectations for a 5,000 rise.
Australia's unemployment rate ticked down to 5.8% last month, from 6.1% in February.
NZD/USD rose to two-and-a-half year highs, up 0.30% to 0.8740, while USD/CAD edged up 0.07% to trade at 1.0888.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.03% to three-week lows of 79.58.