Investing.com - The dollar held steady at seven-week highs against the other major currencies on Thursday, as fresh expectations for a June rate hike by the Federal Reserve lent broad support to the greenback.
USD/JPY slipped 0.14% to 110.04.
The dollar was boosted after the Fed’s April meeting minutes showed that officials said a June rate hike would be appropriate if economic data indicated that growth was picking up in the second quarter and employment and inflation were firming.
Economic data earlier in the week showed that U.S. consumer prices rose at the fastest rate in three years in April, while industrial output and housing starts both rebounded.
The upbeat data indicated that the economy was regaining momentum at the start of the second quarter after growth slowed sharply in the first quarter.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1217, the lowest since March 295.
The dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.21% at 1.4630 and was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9872.
The pound strengthened after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales rose 1.3% in April, well above economists’ forecasts for an increase of 0.5%.
March’s figures were revised to show a 0.5% drop, a much smaller decline than the initial estimate of a fall of 1.3%.
The Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD down 0.28% at 0.7209, while NZD/USD rose 0.22% to 0.6755.
The Aussie dropped to two-month lows after the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the number of employed people increased by 10,800 in April, confounding expectations for a 12,500 rise.
Australia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.7% in April, compared to expectations for an uptick to 5.8%.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD gained 0.33% to trade at 1.3077, as declining oil prices weighed on demand for the commodity-related loonie.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.19, the highest since March 29.