© Reuters.
Investing.com – The U.S. dollar fell in early European hours on Thursday, giving up some of its overnight gains after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting indicated another rate hike later this month.
At 02:55 ET (06:55 GMT), the greenback, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was trading down 0.1% at 102.945, after rising 0.5% overnight.
Fed meeting minutes, expectations of a rate hike
The Fed, released on Wednesday, showed that almost all central bank members are more supportive in the coming months, pointing to a stubborn and buoyant job market.
This has heightened expectations at the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting later this month, sending the dollar higher.
said Jonas Goltermann, an economist at Capital Economics.
German factory orders jump
It rose 0.1% to 1.0865, supported by data showing a much larger than expected rise in May, up 6.4% for the month, much better than the expected 1.2% increase.
It is widely expected to raise interest rates again later this month, and board member Joachim Nagel said earlier this week that further hikes are likely although decisions remain data-driven.
The yuan is near an eight-month low
It traded largely unchanged at 7.2472, with the yuan still just shy of an eight-month low after data this week showed that Chinese business activity deteriorated for a third consecutive month in June.
Concerns about deteriorating trade relations between Washington and Beijing, as the two economic superpowers vie for dominance in semiconductor chips, also weighed on the Chinese currency.
Elsewhere, it traded flat at 1.2704, while it fell by 0.6% to 143.76, amid continued speculation about government intervention in the currency markets, and rose by 0.4% to 0.6678, supported by stronger-than-expected performance for the month of May.