The dollar advanced for the first day in six on Thursday as new U.S. tariffs on $16 billion of Chinese imports are set to take effect later Thursday, while China said it would impose retaliatory tariffs on the same amount of U.S. goods.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, gained 0.4% to 95.34 by 12:55AM ET (04:55 GMT).
The index received some support as the Federal Reserve said in its most recent policy meeting that it is ready to hike rates again as long as the U.S. economy remains healthy, “Many participants suggested that if incoming data continued to support their current economic outlook, it would likely soon be appropriate to take another step in removing policy accommodation,” minutes of the July 31-Aug. 1 Federal Open Market Committee meeting released Wednesday in Washington said.
The minutes then added that “further gradual increases” in their target rate “would be consistent with a sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions and inflation near the committee’s symmetric 2% objective over the medium term.”
