2018.02.2102:00:00UTC+00Dollar Climbs; Focus on Fed Minutes, U.S. Debt Auctions

The dollar climbed on Wednesday as the near-term focus shifted to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting for hints on the future pace of U.S. monetary tightening.

The dollar index rose 0.1 percent to 89.805, which was up around 1.8 percent from Friday's three-year low of 88.251.

The greenback rose 0.3 percent to 107.70 yen. Market players said stop-loss dollar buying provided additional support to the dollar, which climbed to 107.90 yen at one point.

The yen showed a muted reaction to comments from Masatsugu Asakawa, Japan's top currency diplomat, who was quoted as saying that yen's recent moves were “one-sided”.

The U.S. currency has weakened against the yen and other major currencies in recent months, with the positive impetus from rising U.S. interest rates offset by bearish factors, including worries that the United States could pursue a weaker dollar policy.

Market participants attributed the dollar's bounce over the past few sessions to short-covering after speculative trades helped pull it down to a 15-month trough of 105.545 yen last week.

The euro was steady at $1.2332, having pulled back from a three-year peak of $1.2556 set on Friday.

Later on Wednesday, investors will turn their attention to the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's last policy meeting in late January.

Traders are also watching this week's large U.S. government debt auctions for clues to international investors' appetite for U.S. assets.