The U.S. dollar is stable against the euro and the yen in trading on Friday, strengthening against the pound sterling.
A day earlier, the dollar fell in price against the world’s major currencies after the publication of the minutes of the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting in November, which showed that the overwhelming majority of the U.S. central bank sees the need to slow the pace of rate hikes in the near future.
The ICE index showing the dollar’s performance against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, pound sterling and Swedish krone) lost 0.17% on Friday, while the broader WSJ Dollar Index was steady.
The euro/dollar pair is trading at $1.0411 as of 8:10 a.m., up from $1.0413 at the close of the previous session.
The dollar is trading at 138.66 yen against 138.64 yen the day before. The pound fell to $1.2099 from $1.2117.
On Thursday, the dollar fell 0.2% against the euro, 0.7% against the yen and 0.5% against the pound.
“Some of the Fed leaders observed that monetary policy had reached a state in which it was sufficiently restrictive to meet FOMC goals and it would be appropriate to slow rate hikes. The vast majority of meeting participants felt that a slowdown in the pace of the hike would probably be appropriate soon,” the minutes of the Nov. 1-2 Fed meeting noted.
Some of the U.S. central bank leaders, meanwhile, believed that the Fed would have to raise the rate higher than previously planned in order to meet its goal of easing inflation.
They indicated that the rate “will have to reach a somewhat higher level than previously expected,” given the lack of sufficient signals of easing inflation in the U.S. at the moment, as well as the continuing imbalance of supply and demand in the economy.
