Investing.com - The dollar pushed lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting added to expectations that interest rates won't be hiked until next year.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.28% at 120.25.
The Fed's September meeting minutes released on Thursday indicated that policymakers were still watching domestic inflation and the impact of slower global growth when considering when to raise interest rates.
The minutes fuelled further speculation that the U.S. central bank won't be raising interest rates this year.
Meanwhile, the yen remained under pressure amid expectations that the Bank of Japan could ease monetary policy as soon as its October meeting.
The BoJ kept monetary policy unchanged at its policy meeting on Wednesday but recent economic reports pointing to weakness in Japan’s economy have added to pressure on the bank to ramp up measures to bolster growth.
The dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.77% to 1.1364.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.10% at 1.5329 and with USD/CHF declining 0.59% to 0.9603.
Sterling pulled back from two-week highs after the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £11.15 billion in August from £12.20 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of 11.08 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to £10.00 billion in August.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.95% to 0.7327 and with NZD/USD climbing 0.51% to 0.6701.
Earlier Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that home loans increased by 2.9% in August, compared to expectations for a 5.0% gain. Home loans fell 0.3% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.3% rise.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD declined 0.62% to trade at 1.2936.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.55% at 94.89, the lowest level since September 18.