Dollar edges back from 18-month high after FOMC minutes

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar held near its strongest level in a year-and-a-half in subdued trading at the start of the Asian session on ​Thursday, after hawkish minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee signaled policymakers ‌at the US central bank viewed inflation as the biggest risk to their outlook. The dollar index , which measures its strength against a basket of six currencies, was steady at 102.23 after ​rising 0.3% on Wednesday. The greenback remains within a few pips of ​its strongest levels since April 9, 2025, following the market turmoil ⁠that accompanied the so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement the previous week. Federal Reserve policymakers ​voted unanimously to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point ​at the US central bank's September 15-16 meeting, but minutes released Wednesday indicated divisions over their rationale for doing so. "The FOMC's minutes reinforced the hawkish tone accompanying the Fed's September rate hike, ​with most participants still viewing further tightening as appropriate and almost all seeing ​inflation risks tilted to the upside at the time of the meeting," Westpac analysts wrote. The ‌minutes did ⁠little to shift expectations that the Fed will refrain from hiking at its meeting later this month. Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 19% probability of a 25-basis-point hike at the US central bank's next two-day meeting ending Oct ​28, unchanged from a ​day earlier, according ⁠to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Against the yen , the US dollar was down 0.2% at 157.815 yen after data released ​on Thursday showed Japan's current account surplus stood at 4.062 trillion ​yen ($25.7 billion) ⁠in August, higher than economists' median forecast for a surplus of 3.19 trillion yen. The Australian dollar and its kiwi counterpart were both flat at $0.6960 and $0.5600 respectively. Against the Chinese ⁠yuan , the ​US dollar was flat at 6.7015 yuan in ​offshore trade. The euro was flat at $1.1201, while the British pound was also unchanged at $1.3215. Bitcoin slipped 0.2% to $83,233.40 ​while ether nudged 0.1% lower to $2,571.07.