Anna 
On Thursday, the dollar maintained its position near a one-week high following its largest daily percentage increase this month against a basket of currencies, spurred by the release of hawkish minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting revealing a willingness among some officials to raise interest rates.
The British pound showed little reaction to the announcement of a British election, having surged to a two-month peak following hotter-than-expected inflation data on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar continued its ascent, buoyed by an unexpected increase in local retail sales and hawkish guidance from the central bank.
The dollar index, tracking the currency against six major rivals, including sterling, the euro, and yen, edged slightly higher to 104.93 after a 0.28% gain the previous day. Fed officials, in their April 30-May 1 session, indicated confidence in easing price pressures but also discussed possible tightening measures, as revealed in the minutes released Wednesday.
Lee Hardman, senior FX strategist at MUFG, noted that the minutes provide further resistance against market expectations for Fed rate cuts this year, suggesting a delayed start to the rate-cut cycle until at least September.
Despite the positive outlook for the dollar, Hardman suggested that it may not be sufficient alone to drive a stronger dollar, especially given recent softening in U.S. economic data.
In other currency movements, the euro remained flat at $1.0824, while the pound steadied against both the dollar and euro, sitting at $1.2726 and 85.06 pence per euro, respectively.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar softened slightly to 156.64 yen, despite rising to 156.85, its highest level since May 1. Japanese authorities are wary of intervention to support the currency, with nearly half of Japanese firms viewing the yen’s slide beyond 155 to the dollar as harmful.
Additionally, data showing Japan’s factory activity creeping into expansion for the first time in a year in May influenced yen dynamics.
The New Zealand dollar added 0.16% to $0.6108 after retail sales volumes unexpectedly rose, supported by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s revised interest rate forecasts.
In the cryptocurrency space, ether rose 2% to $3,825, following speculation over the potential approval of U.S. spot exchange-traded funds tracking the cryptocurrency.
