Investing.com - The dollar rose to fresh seven-month highs against the other major currencies on Thursday, as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting added to expectations for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year.
EUR/USD edged down 0.15% to 1.0994, the lowest since July 27.
The greenback found some support after the minutes of the Fed's September policy meeting released on Wednesday showed several voting members of the policy committee judged a rate hike would be warranted "relatively soon" if the U.S. economy continued to strengthen.
USD/JPY fell 0.23% to trade at 103.97.
Safe-haven demand strengthened after data earlier showed that China’s trade surplus narrowed to $41.99 billion in September from $52.05 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to $53.00 billion last month.
The weak data fueled fresh concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
GBP/USD slid 0.20% to 1.2168, while USD/CHF edged down 0.11% to 0.9895.
The pound had found some support after British Prime Minister Theresa May was pushed into allowing Tory MPs on Tuesday to vote for a Labour motion calling for greater scrutiny of her Brexit proposals.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.46% at 0.7526 and with NZD/USD declining 0.23% to 0.7047.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.3281.
The commodity currencies were weighed by a decline in oil prices, after OPEC said its production rose to the highest level in at least eight years in September and following reports of an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at a fresh seven-month high of 98.05.