Investing.com - The dollar gained ground against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting due later in the day.
USD/JPY was steady at 110.41, not far from Tuesday’s 17-month low of 109.94.
The greenback found support after the Institute of Supply Management said on Tuesday that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index improved to 54.5 last month from 53.4 in February.
But gains were limited as data also showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened to $47.06 billion in Februray from $45.88 billion in January.
Investors were eyeing the minutes of the Fed’s March meeting due later Wednesday, for fresh indications on the future path of interest rates.
Meanwhile, the yen remained supported after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that countries should avoid weakening their currencies with "arbitrary intervention."
The yen’s gains have fueled speculation over how much higher the currency can climb before Japanese officials act to weaken it.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Tuesday that he would act quickly to boost stimulus measures if necessary.
EUR/USD slid 0.31% to trade at 1.1350.
In the euro zone, data on Wednesday showed that German industrial output fell 0.5% in February, better than the 1.8% decline forecast by economists.
Meanwhile, the dollar was higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD down 0.42% at 1.4102 and with USD/CHF gaining 0.46% to 0.9605.
The Australian was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7546, while NZD/USD fell 0.28% to 0.6788.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD rose 0.26% to trade at 1.3171.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.30% at 94.89, pulling away from last week’s five-and-a-half month low of 94.30.