2017.08.1614:27:00UTC+00Dollar Drops After Fed Minutes Released

The dollar has weakened against all of its major rivals Wednesday afternoon, following the release of the minutes from the most recent policy meeting of the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve remains on track to unwind its $4.5 trillion balance sheet at an "upcoming" meeting, according to the minutes of the central bank's July monetary policy decision.

Policy makers also expect to raise their benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point one more time this year despite ongoing concerns about stubbornly tame inflation.

Some members want to be "patient" on raising interest rates, however, as they lowered their forecast for underlying inflation.

Many senior officials saw a greater likelihood that "inflation might remain below 2% for longer than they currently expected."

A report issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce said housing starts fell 4.8 percent from the previous month, dropping to an annual rate of 1.155 million units in July. This was down from the revised June estimate of 1.213 million units.

Economists had expected housing starts to edge up to a rate of 1.225 million from the 1.215 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said building permits also fell during the month. The figure dropped by 4.1 percent compared to the previous month, slipping to a rate of 1.223 million units in July. June's figure was revised to a pace of 1.275 million units.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to come in at a pace of about 1.25 million units.

The dollar has dropped to around $1.1775 against the Euro Wednesday afternoon, from an early high of $1.1678.

The euro area economy expanded as initially estimated in the second quarter with better contribution from individual economies.

Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, slightly faster than the 0.5 percent increase seen in the first three months of the year, the latest flash estimate from Eurostat showed Wednesday.

The buck has slipped to around $1.2885 against the pound sterling this afternoon, from a high of $1.2837 this morning.

The UK unemployment rate declined further in the second quarter to the lowest level in 42 years and earnings growth exceeded expectations, but continued to lag behind inflation, squeezing consumers' disposable income.

The ILO unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent in the second quarter from 4.9 percent a year ago, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. This was the lowest since 1975. Economists had forecast a rate of 4.5 percent, the same as seen in the three months to May.

Average earnings including bonuses increased 2.1 percent annually in the second quarter, faster than the expected 1.8 percent. Nonetheless, this was weaker than current inflation of 2.6 percent.

The greenback reached a high of Y110.948 against the Japanese Yen Wednesday, but has since pulled back to around Y110.175.