Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher against other major currencies on Thursday, as upbeat remarks by the Federal Reserve at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday continued to lend support.
The greenback found support after the Fed signaled its confidence about inflation and growth in the U.S.
The Fed said that inflation is likely to rise this year, boosting expectations for further interest rate hikes under incoming central bank head Jerome Powell.
The Fed left rates unchanged on Wednesday, in widely expected move. The meeting was current Fed chair Janet Yellen's last.
The decision came after ADP payrolls processing firm reported that the U.S. private sector created 234,000 jobs in January, beating expectations for a 186,000 rise.
Market participants were now looking ahead to Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the strength of the economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.16% at 89.09 by 02:00 a.m. ET (06:00 GMT).
The euro and the pound were lower, with EUR/USD down 0.10% at 1.2400 and with GBP/USD slipping 0.16% to 1.4168.
The yen and the Swiss franc were also weaker, with USD/JPY up 0.32% at 109.53 and with USD/CHF adding 0.24% to 0.9330.
Elsewhere, AUD/USD declined 0.48% to 0.8017, while NZD/USD edged 0.19% lower to 0.7349.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that building approvals dropped 20.0% in December, compared to expectations for a 8.0% fall.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.2320.