U.S. Dollar Advances After Fed Minutes

The U.S. dollar advanced against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as minutes from the recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed that members were optimistic about economic growth and inflation moving up to target, which might need a "slightly steeper" path of rate hikes than currently expected.

"All participants agreed that the outlook for the economy beyond the current quarter had strengthened in recent months," the minutes from the March 20-21 meeting showed.

The Fed also anticipated a rise in inflation that was progressing toward its 2 percent goal.

"A number of participants indicated that the stronger outlook for economic activity, along with their increased confidence that inflation would return to 2 percent over the medium term, implied that the appropriate path for the (Fed's policy rate) over the next few years would likely be slightly steeper than they had previously expected," the minutes said.

Some member say that "monetary policy eventually would likely gradually move from an accommodative stance to being a neutral or restraining factor for economic activity," it showed.

At the March meeting, the Fed raised its benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter percentage point to between 1.5% and 1.75%.

The greenback climbed to a 3-day high of 0.9601 against the Swiss franc, from a low of 0.9568 hit at 5:00 pm ET. The greenback is seen finding resistance around the 0.98 region.

The greenback reversed from an early low of 1.2380 against the euro, rising to 1.2354. On the upside, 1.19 is likely seen as the next resistance for the greenback.

The greenback bounced off to 1.4171 against the pound, from a low of 1.4198 hit at 9:00 pm ET. The next possible resistance for the greenback is seen around the 1.38 level.

Data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that UK house price balance remained at zero in March.

The balance was forecast to rise to 2 percent from zero posted in February.

The greenback recovered to 0.7745 against the aussie and 1.2594 against the loonie, from its early lows of 0.7772 and 1.2562, respectively. If the greenback rises further, it may find resistance around 0.75 against the aussie and 1.28 against the loonie.

Having fallen to 106.70 against the yen at 8:15 pm ET, the greenback reversed direction and rose to 106.97. The greenback is likely to find resistance around the 110.00 region.

Looking ahead, Eurozone industrial production for February and ECB minutes of March 7-8 meeting are due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. import and export prices for March, weekly jobless claims for the week ended April 7 and Canada new housing price index for February are scheduled for release.

Euro vs US Dollar (FX:EURUSD)
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