Dollar steady near 6-month lows after Fed minutes

The dollar held steady near six-month lows against other major currencies on Thursday, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting sparked uncertainty over the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.

EUR/USD edged up 0.12% to 1.1230, just off Tuesday’s six-month high of 1.1268.

The minutes of the Fed’s May meeting released late Wednesday showed that the central bank plans to unwind its balance sheet towards the end of the year, possibly using a system where cap limits are implemented on how much the Fed would roll off every month without reinvesting.

The Fed also signaled that interest rates could be raised soon, but added that "it would be prudent" to wait for more U.S. economic data.

Elsewhere, GBP/USD was little changed at 1.2968 after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product was revised down to 0.2% in the three months to March from the first estimate of 0.3%. It was the weakest growth since the first quarter of 2016.

USD/JPY gained 0.25% to 111.78, while USD/CHF slipped 0.11% to trade at 0.9717.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.52% at 0.7466 and with NZD/USD declining 0.35% to 0.7024.

Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged up 0.19% to trade at 1.3431 after hitting a five-week low of 1.3388 overnight.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.96, not far from Tuesday’s six-month low of 96.70.