Investing.com - The dollar was at seven-week highs against a basket of its major peers on Thursday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April meeting indicated that interest rates could rise as soon as next month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, hit highs of 95.33, the most since March 29 and was last at 95.16.
Wednesday’s Fed’s April meeting minutes showed that officials said a June rate hike would be appropriate if economic data indicated that growth was picking up in the second quarter and employment and inflation were firming.
The U.S. central bank hiked rates in December for the first time in almost a decade.
Economic data earlier in the week showed that U.S. consumer prices rose at the fastest rate in three years in April, while industrial output and housing starts both rebounded.
The upbeat data indicated that the economy was regaining momentum at the start of the second quarter after growth slowed sharply in the first quarter.
The dollar eased lower against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.14% to 110.05 after hitting three-week highs of 110.38 earlier.
The euro was steady near seven week lows, with EUR/USD at 1.1216.
The Australian dollar fell to two-and-a-half month lows following the release of a mixed domestic jobs report.
AUD/USD hit lows of 0.7192, the weakest level since March 2 before pulling back to 0.7216.