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• Federal Reserve policymakers agreed they should hold off on raising interest rates until it was clear a recent U.S. economic slowdown was temporary, though most said a hike was coming soon, minutes from their last policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

Nearly all policymakers at the May 2-3 meeting also said they favored beginning the wind-down of the U.S. central bank's massive holdings of Treasury debt and mortgage-backed securities this year.

Fed policymakers also discussed at length the reasons for the first-quarter slowdown and why a measure of underlying price gains also fell further below their 2 percent inflation target, according to the minutes.

A wider group of policymakers including officials who aren't voting on the rate-setting committee this year said they expected a rate increase would be needed soon, and reviewed a Fed staff proposal on reducing the central bank's balance sheet.

• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan said Wednesday he feels "very strongly" that U.S. trade relationships with Canada and Mexico help U.S. competitiveness.

• The dollar was on the defensive early on Thursday after minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting were not as hawkish as anticipated, while the euro edged back up towards a 6-1/2-month high. The dollar was little changed at 111.570 yen, pushed away from a one-week high of 112.130 scaled the previous day.

The euro, which went as low as $1.1168 overnight, was 0.1 percent higher at $1.1230, making its way back towards the 6-1/2-month peak of $1.1268 touched on Tuesday.

The dollar index against a basket of major currencies. was down 0.3 percent at 96.983.

• "The euro is resuming its advance with the dollar sagging on the Fed's minutes. It has the momentum to surpass the $1.1300 mark and we could see the rise continue towards $1.1500," said Daisuke Karakama, market economist at Mizuho Bank.

"That said, the market is low on incentives after the Fed minutes' release. We have to wait until the U.S. non-farm payrolls report for the next big event, with dealers keeping an eye on any irregular Trump-related news headlines in the meantime."

• U.S. home resales fell from a more than 10-year high in April, weighed down by a chronic shortage of houses on the market that is keeping prices elevated and sidelining prospective buyers.

Despite the stumble, the housing market remains on solid ground as the labor market nears full employment, which is expected to spur faster wage growth.

The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales declined 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units last month. Sales scaled a 5.70 million-unit pace in March, which was the highest level since February 2007.

• Oil prices retreated slightly Wednesday as investors reacted to a smaller-than-expected U.S. gasoline stocks draw as they awaited the outcome of discussions in Vienna between OPEC and other oil-exporting countries on whether to extend output cuts.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 settled down 19 cents a barrel at $53.96. U.S. light crude CLc1 was down 11 cents at $51.36.

• A pair of suicide bombers struck a bus station Wednesday in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, police said. At least three officers were killed, national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto told reporters. Five other officers and five civilians were wounded.

It's not clear who carried out the attack. In the past, ISIS has claimed responsibility for terrorism in Indonesia.