* Dollar slips, euro gains * U.S. retail sales strong * Investors watch developments in Ukraine By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar index was down on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level since Friday after minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting suggested policymakers are not set on a particular pace of interest rate hikes. According to the January meeting minutes released on Wednesday, Fed officials last month agreed that, with inflation widening its grip on the economy and employment strong, it was time to tighten monetary policy, but also that decisions would depend on a meeting-by-meeting analysis of data. Strategists said the minutes suggested policymakers may not be as hawkish as investors feared. "Members were not as aggressive as some had expected, which is being reflected in the modest sell-off of the dollar," said John Doyle, vice president of dealing at Monex USA in Washington. "We are taking these minutes with a grain of salt anyway, as the meeting happened before the recent CPI and PPI data, which were considerably higher than forecast." Earlier this week, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard reiterated calls for a faster pace of Fed rate hikes, and stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data including Wednesday's U.S. retail sales data have helped to underscore that view. Those expectations have helped to give support to the dollar in recent sessions. At the Fed's Jan. 25-26 meeting, policymakers agreed that it would "soon be appropriate" to raise the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate from its near-zero level. The dollar index was last down 0.3%, while the euro was up 0.2% at $1.1383. The U.S. dollar was down 0.4% against the Swiss franc and down 0.2% against the Japanese yen. On the geopolitical front, the United States and NATO said Russia was still building up troops around Ukraine on Wednesday despite Moscow's insistence it was pulling back. The Russian defense ministry said its forces were pulling back after exercises in southern and western military districts near Ukraine. The Russian rouble strengthened 0.73% versus the greenback to 75.14 per dollar. Oil prices rallied earlier, and the Canadian dollar rose 0.33% versus the greenback to 1.27 per dollar. Sterling was last trading at $1.3593, up 0.44% on the day. Data earlier showed UK inflation hit a nearly 30-year high of 5.5%. The Bank of England has already raised interest rates twice since December, and financial markets expect a further rate rise on March 17 after the BoE's next meeting. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was down 0.7% at $44,271. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:28PM (2028 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index 95.7290 96.0070 -0.28% 0.069% +96.0640 +95.6770 Euro/Dollar $1.1383 $1.1359 +0.22% +0.14% +$1.1396 +$1.1345 Dollar/Yen 115.4000 115.5950 -0.15% +0.26% +115.7800 +115.3550 Euro/Yen 131.37 131.28 +0.07% +0.81% +131.9000 +131.1200 Dollar/Swiss 0.9213 0.9253 -0.44% +1.00% +0.9260 +0.9208 Sterling/Dollar $1.3593 $1.3542 +0.39% +0.52% +$1.3600 +$1.3532 Dollar/Canadian 1.2681 1.2717 -0.27% +0.30% +1.2725 +1.2665 Aussie/Dollar $0.7202 $0.7151 +0.69% -0.94% +$0.7205 +$0.7144 Euro/Swiss 1.0487 1.0509 -0.21% +1.14% +1.0549 +1.0484 Euro/Sterling 0.8373 0.8388 -0.18% -0.32% +0.8402 +0.8366 NZ $0.6687 $0.6639 +0.74% -2.29% +$0.6691 +$0.6636 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway 8.8660 8.9025 -0.43% +0.62% +8.9120 +8.8575 Euro/Norway 10.0949 10.1061 -0.11% +0.83% +10.1447 +10.0896 Dollar/Sweden 9.2631 9.2840 +0.04% +2.72% +9.3155 +9.2465 Euro/Sweden 10.5450 10.5408 +0.04% +3.04% +10.5841 +10.5228 (Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by David Holmes, Barbara Lewis, Christina Fincher and Jonathan Oatis)
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Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
|
Change
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5d. change
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Capi.
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0.6726 USD | -0.08% | -0.39% | - | ||
1.094 USD | +0.33% | +0.98% | - | ||
0.9142 EUR | -0.33% | -0.96% | - | ||
0.012 USD | -0.00% | 0.00% | - | ||
1.301 USD | +0.25% | +1.19% | - | ||
0.6147 EUR | -0.42% | -1.35% | - | ||
0.7303 USD | -0.10% | -0.54% | - | ||
1.189 EUR | -0.12% | +0.21% | - | ||
0.6079 USD | +0.15% | -0.13% | - | ||
0.0109 EUR | -0.32% | -1.80% | - | ||
0.6683 EUR | -0.40% | -1.40% | - | ||
85.08 USD | +1.52% | +0.16% | - | ||
- PTS | -.--% | +1.02% | - | ||
81.8 USD | +2.48% | +0.84% | - | ||
0.9657 CHF | -0.86% | -0.84% | - | ||
88.6 RUB | +0.12% | +0.29% | - | ||
0.8831 CHF | -1.16% | -1.79% | - | ||
60,241 EUR | +0.87% | +11.33% | - | ||
0.5934 CHF | -1.34% | -2.13% | - | ||
65,638 USD | +0.69% | +12.30% | - | ||
0.6585 CHF | -0.93% | -1.23% | - | ||
11.31 CHF | -1.14% | -1.73% | - | ||
0.5655 CHF | +0.23% | +1.64% | - | ||
0.5363 CHF | -1.12% | -1.97% | - | ||
1.148 CHF | -0.97% | -0.62% | - | ||
0.645 CHF | -1.31% | -2.23% | - | ||
0.1217 CHF | -1.01% | -1.54% | - | ||
0.009975 CHF | -1.32% | -0.99% | - | ||
0.0838 CHF | -0.74% | -1.76% | - | ||
0.0106 CHF | -1.15% | -1.85% | - | ||
12.95 CHF | -0.86% | -0.84% | - | ||
0.92 CAD | -0.02% | +0.04% | - | ||
1.78 CAD | +0.31% | +1.62% | - | ||
0.8309 CAD | +0.15% | +0.34% | - | ||
114.1 JPY | -1.49% | -3.85% | - | ||
1.496 CAD | +0.41% | +1.42% | - | ||
1.368 CAD | +0.08% | +0.48% | - | ||
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