• Stronger appetite for equities and chances of another U.S. rate increase in the coming months lifted the dollar index . The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last down slightly at 101.35 after hitting a six-day high of 101.600 overnight.
The euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.0547 EUR= after slipping to a low of $1.0526 overnight. A break of Feb. 15's low of $1.05215 would put it in its deepest trough since Jan. 11.
The dollar was 0.1 percent lower at 113.56 yen JPY=, edging away from its peak of 114.955 yen touched a week ago, which was its highest since late January.
The dollar edged down in Asian trading on Wednesday as investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting for clues as to the pace of interest rate hikes, while the euro nursed losses and remained pressured by European political woes.
• Hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials and European political uncertainty boosted the dollar and the greenback was on course for its steepest gain against the euro in two weeks.
• Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said on Tuesday he would likely support a quarter point rate increase at the central bank's March 14-15 meeting if the economy improves further.
• Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said late on Monday she would be comfortable raising rates if the economy maintained its current performance.
• Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday said the U.S. labor market has "more room to run," suggesting he does not believe the central bank should raise rates quickly to head off inflation.
Markets are vulnerable to a surprise from the Fed, even though the meeting minutes it will release Wednesday are pretty stale.
Traders aren't expecting much reaction to what should be old news. But the risks are two way - the Fed could sound surprisingly dovish, counter to the recent statements of some Fed officials. Or on the other hand, it could sound more hawkish than the statement it released after that meeting on Feb. 1, where it held interest rates steady.
Strategists say after the Fed minutes, the market will be looking ahead to the release of President Donald Trump's tax plan, expected by many to be released in his speech to Congress Feb. 28.
The market has been watching for a reaction from Trump on the border adjustment tax aspect of the House tax plan, which already has opposition in the Senate. The border adjusted tax would place a 20 percent tax on all imported goods and no tax on exports. Supporters say it is the best way to raise revenue for the tax cuts — $1trillion over 10 years. It also would allow congress to cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent.
But opponents say it may not work as smoothly as some expect. The border adjustment tax supposedly would send the dollar up by 25 percent, but some economists worry it will not be a smooth ascent and it will end up creating price inflation as companies raise prices.
• U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his first public condemnation of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States on Tuesday after a new spate of bomb threats to Jewish community centers around the country and vandalism in a Jewish cemetery.
• Oil prices ended about 1 percent higher after touching three-week highs on Tuesday on OPEC's optimism for greater compliance with its deal with other producers including Russia to curb output in an effort to clear a glut that has weighed on the market.
OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo told an industry conference in London that January data showed conformity from participating OPEC nations with output curbs had been above 90 percent and oil inventories would decline further this year.
Brent crude LCOc1 finished 48 cents or 0.85 percent higher at $56.66 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 settled up 66cents or 1.24 percent at $54.06.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, Startribune
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