WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar was steady on Wednesday, as it stayed above the flat line for a second successive session, amid continued uncertainty about U.S.-China trade deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threat that he would impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods if China does not make a trade deal with the U.S. raised fresh concerns about trade war and supported the dollar.
Later on in the session, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting minutes suggested the central bank may well keep interest rates on hold in the near future.
The dollar index, which rose to 98.04 in early trades briefly slipped into the negative zone, but recovered swiftly and was last seen at 97.92, to go up 0.06% from previous close.
The Euro was down marginally against the greenback at $1.1072, compared to previous close of $1.1079.
The dollar was up slightly against Sterling as well. After edging lower by mid morning, the greenback recovered to 1.2920 a Sterling, gaining over its previous close of 1.2926.
Against the Japanese Yen, the dollar was up marginally with a unit of dollar fetching 108.62 yen.
The dollar was up notably against the loonie at 1.3306 and gaining marginally against Swiss franc at 0.9912. The dollar was up more than 0.4% against the Aussie with the Aussie-Dollar pair quoting at 0.6799.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting did not provide any significant insight into the outlook for interest rates.
The minutes said the decision to remove the 'act as appropriate' language from the statement was seen as consistent with the view that the current stance of monetary policy was likely to remain appropriate as long as the economy performed broadly in line with the Fed's expectations.
The Fed also reiterated that policy is not on a preset course and could change if developments emerged that led to a material reassessment of the economic outlook.
Reiterating the assessment in the Fed's statement, the minutes said members noted that information received since the September meeting indicated that the labor market remained strong and that economic activity had been rising at a moderate rate.
The minutes said members agreed the timing and size of future adjustments to rates would be based on assessments of realized and expected economic conditions.
In congressional testimony last week, Powell indicated the central bank would leave interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future unless there is a material change in the economic outlook.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
