Investing.com - The dollar trimmed gains against a basket of other major currencies in quiet trade on Wednesday, as investors locked in gains from the greenback's recent upward trend, although expectations for higher U.S. interest rates later this year continued to support.
USD/JPY was up 0.47% to 123.68, the most since July 2008 from 123.08 late Tuesday.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. business investment plans increased, consumer confidence improved and house prices extended gains.
The upbeat data supported the view that the Federal Reserve could start to raise interest rates later in the year if the economy continues to improve as expected.
In Japan, Wednesday’s minutes of the central bank’s April meeting showed policymakers pushed back the time frame for achieving its 2% inflation target, fuelling expectations for additional monetary easing later this year.
EUR/USD was up 0.13% to 1.0886, after falling to one-month lows of 1.0819 earlier.
The single currency rebounded from session lows following reports the Greek government and its creditors have started drafting a staff-level agreement, boosting hopes that an final agreement on a cash-for-reforms deal is growing closer.
Earlier Wednesday, Athens expressed confidence that it would make a €305 million payment to the IMF due on June 5.
The Greek government had previously warned that it would be unable to make the repayment if a deal with its international lenders was not reached by then.
The pound and the Swiss franc were lower, with GBP/USD shedding 0.27% to 1.5340 and with USD/CHF down 0.26% to 0.9510.
The Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD sliding 0.24% to 0.7717, while NZD/USD added 0.10% to trade at 0.7236.
USD/CAD rose 0.34% to six-week highs of 1.2476 after the Bank of Canada kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.75% and said that the assessment of risks to the inflation profile had not materially changed since last month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.15% at 97.53, holding just below the session's five-week highs of 97.87.