Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, amid ongoing uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year and as investors eyed the release of U.S. data later in the day.
USD/JPY fell 0.20% to 113.87.
In the minutes of the Fed’s January policy meeting, policymakers worried that tighter global financial conditions could weigh on the U.S. economy and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016.
However, they added that it would be premature to change their outlook for the U.S. economy and said they would closely monitor global economic developments as well as oil and stock prices.
Separately, sentiment weakened after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cut its global growth forecast for this year and warned that some emerging markets are at risk of exchange-rate volatility.
The OECD said global gross domestic product will expand 3.0% in 2016, down from November’s prediction of 3.3%.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1126.
Market participants were looking ahead to the minutes of the European Central Bank’s most recent policy meeting, due later in the day, for indications on potential easing measures in the near future.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.14% at 1.4311 and was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9928.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.36% at 0.7158, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.6632.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the number of employed people declined by 7,900 in January, disappointing expectations for an increase of 15,000. The number of employed people fell by 800 in December.
The report also showed that Australia’s unemployment rate ticked up to 6.0% last month from 5.8% in December. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in January.
USD/CAD edged up 0.16% to trade at 1.3840, as a rebound in oil prices failed to lend support to the commodity-related loonie.
Oil prices moved back above $31 a barel on Thursday after Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met his counterparts from Venezuela, Iraq and Qatar in Tehran for nearly three hours on Wednesday in an attempt to reach a deal to restrain output and prop up sagging prices.
Speaking following the conclusion of the meeting, Zanganeh said that he supports efforts by OPEC members to keep prices stable, but did not say if Iran would cap its output at current levels.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.84.