Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday as investors positioned ahead of Federal Reserve meeting minutes due to be published later in the trading day.
EUR/USD rose to one-week highs of 1.3631 before pulling back to trade at 1.3612, unchanged for the day.
Investors remained on the sidelines amid concerns that recent U.S. data showing that the labor market is continuing to strengthen will not be enough to prompt the Fed to bring forward its timetable for raising interest rates.
Official data late last week showed that the U.S. economy added a larger-than-forecast 288,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1%, the lowest in almost six years.
Markets were looking to the minutes of the Fed’s June meeting, due out later Wednesday, for further indications on its monetary policy stance. The Fed was expected to stick to its dovish stance amid concerns over ongoing slow growth in inflation and wages.
The dollar was steady against the Japanese currency, with USD/JPY at 101.64, off a one-week low of 101.43 touched earlier in the session. USD/CHF was flat at 0.8929.
The pound was down slightly, with GBP/USD slipping 0.11% to 1.7110, holding above Tuesday’s one-week lows of 1.7084.
Sterling fell to one-week lows before recovering slightly on Tuesday after data showing an unexpected decline in manufacturing and industrial output indicated that the economic recovery in the U.K. may not be as strong as hoped.
The New Zealand dollar was at three year highs, with NZD/USD up 0.24% to 0.8807. The kiwi was boosted after ratings agency Fitch raised New Zealand’s credit outlook to positive from stable on Tuesday and reaffirmed the country's AA rating.
Elsewhere, AUD/USD edged up 0.05% to 0.9404, while USD/CAD dipped 0.06% to 1.0671.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was unchanged for the day at 80.23.