“Right now, observers think a September policy rate hike is off the table”, Richard Clarida, global strategic advisor at bond giant PIMCO, wrote in a blog.
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Japan’s Nikkei share average dropped to its lowest in more than a week on Thursday morning as the strong yen dragged down exporter shares and soured sentiment in the broader market.
Minutes from the USA central bank s July meeting said policymakers were keeping their “options open” and that the Federal Open Market Committee remained divided on the near-term danger of inflation.
Market participants interpreted the minutes as moderately positive for risk-taking, with the Fed remaining divided on the timing of the next hike.
But the greenback retreated after investors gained a broader insight on the Fed’s policy stance, which has been a source of anxiety ever since the US central bank delivered its first rate hike in nearly a decade in December, 2015.
At one point on Tuesday the yen had strengthened to 99.54 per dollar, but the dollar then recovered to 100.77 yen in Asian trade.
The dollar index dipped 0.1 percent to 94.611, having lost about 0.7 percent so far this week, during which it touched a 7-week low of 94.426 on Tuesday.
International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $49.67 per barrel at 0050 GMT, down 18 cents from their last close.
The minutes helped lift gold and demand for U.S. Treasurys, while the dollar weakened slightly.
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Japanese stocks rose as the dollar fought back against the yen following a US Fed official. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.25 percent at $4,786 a tonne after losing 0.8 percent on Wednesday.
