U.S. Dollar Advances Ahead Of Fed Minutes

The U.S. dollar climbed against its most major opponents in the European session on Wednesday, as investors look forward to the minutes from the Fed's latest meeting for clues about the commencement of balance sheet normalization and prospects of another interest rate hike this year.

The minutes, due at 2:00 pm ET, could shed more information regarding the plan to begin reducing the Fed's massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet. The statement may offer more insights about the Fed's thinking on the state of the U.S. economy and prospects of another rate rise later this year.

At the July 25-26 meeting, the FOMC kept the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 1.00-1.25 percent. The Fed also said that it would begin shrinking the Fed's balance sheet "relatively soon.

Other economic releases include the U.S. housing starts and building permits for July, due at 8:30 am ET.

The greenback was higher on Tuesday, as U.S. retail sales beat forecasts in July and the New York Fed President William Dudley backed another rate hike this year.

The currency held steady against its major rivals in the Asian session, barring the Japanese yen.

The greenback edged up to 0.9756 against the Swiss franc and held steady thereafter. The next possible resistance for the greenback-franc pair is seen around the 0.99 region.

The greenback climbed to 1.1691 against the euro, after having fallen to 1.1758 at 3:30 am ET. On the upside, 1.15 is possibly seen as the next resistance level for the greenback.

Flash estimate from Eurostat showed that the euro area economy expanded as initially estimated in the second quarter.

Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, slightly faster than the 0.5 percent increase seen in the first quarter.

The greenback firmed to near a 2-week high of 110.95 against the Japanese yen, compared to 110.66 hit late New York Tuesday. The greenback is seen finding resistance around the 112.00 region.

On the flip side, the greenback weakened to 1.2903 against the pound, off early 5-week high of 1.2842. Continuation of the greenback's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 1.30 area.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK unemployment rate declined in the second quarter.

The ILO unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent in the second quarter from 4.9 percent a year ago. This was the lowest since 1975.

The greenback also fell to 0.7866 against the aussie, 1.2720 against the loonie and 0.7253 versus the kiwi, from its early highs of 0.7817 and 1.2770 and a 5-week high of 0.7223, respectively. The greenback may possibly locate support around 0.795 against the aussie, 1.26 against the loonie and 0.74 against the kiwi.