Investing.com - The dollar trimmed gains against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as investors became cautious ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting due to be released later in the trading session.
USD/JPY slipped 0.21% to 110.09, not far from Tuesday’s 17-month low of 109.94.
The greenback had 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 was steady at 1.1385, after falling to 1.1327 earlier in the day.
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, with GBP/USD down 0.54% at 1.4083 and was little changed against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9562.
The Australian moved higher, with AUD/USD up 0.23% at 0.7561, while NZD/USD edged down 0.10% to 0.6797.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD rose 0.23% to trade at 1.3169.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up -% at 94.95, off session highs of 95.07.