U.S. Dollar Appreciates Ahead Of Fed Minutes

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar was higher against its major counterparts in the New York session on Wednesday, as investors awaited minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting for clues on the timing of the first cut.

The Fed will release the minutes of the April 30-May 1 policy meeting later today.

The minutes could have an impact on the outlook for interest rates following recent comments from some Fed officials suggesting rates may need to remain higher for longer than anticipated.

Fed governor Chris Waller said Tuesday that a continued softening in data over the next three to five months would allow the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates at the end of this year.

While the likelihood rates will be lower by September remains high, the chances have fallen to 67.0 percent from close to 90 percent last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Data from the National Association of Realtors showed that U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly saw further downside in the month of April.

NAR said existing home sales slumped by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.14 million in April after tumbling by 3.7 percent to a revised rate of 4.22 million in March.

Economists had expected existing home sales to rise by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.21 million from the 4.19 million originally reported for the previous month.

The greenback firmed to 8-day highs of 156.61 against the yen and 1.3678 against the loonie, off its early lows of 156.07 and 1.3623, respectively. The greenback is seen finding resistance around 159.5 against the yen and 1.38 against the loonie.

The greenback advanced to 1-week highs of 1.0821 against the euro and 0.6632 against the aussie, from an early low of 156.07 and a 2-day low of 0.6685, respectively. The currency is likely to locate resistance around 1.06 against the euro and 0.64 against the aussie.

The greenback rebounded to 0.6104 against the kiwi, up from an early more than 2-month low of 0.6152. Next key resistance for the currency is seen around the 0.58 level.

The greenback touched 0.9158 against the franc, its highest level since May 2. The greenback may challenge resistance around the 0.93 level.

The greenback edged up to 1.2700 against the pound, from an early fresh 2-month low of 1.2761. On the upside, 1.24 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.