The dollar rose on Thursday after a report showing a rise in US producer prices in September helped shake off some weakness caused by Wednesday's release of US Federal Reserve meeting minutes that highlighted policymakers' more cautious outlook toward inflation. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.14 percent at 93.148. The index was on pace to snap a four-day losing streak, the longest such stretch in about three months.
"The minutes were a bit on the dovish side in the sense that a lot of the conversation piece was around inflation and inflationary pressure or lack thereof," said Minh Trang, senior currency trader at Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. The minutes from the last Fed meeting showed many policymakers still felt that another rate increase this year "was likely to be warranted," but several said additional tightening depended on upcoming inflation data.
On Thursday, the greenback found some support after the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand increased 0.4 percent last month after rising 0.2 percent in August. Separately, data showed applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a more than one-month low last week as the boost to claims in Texas and Florida from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma continued to unwind. Sterling was down 0.41 percent at $1.3167. The euro was 0.15 percent lower against the greenback at $1.1839.
The euro rose to a more than two-week high of $1.188 earlier in the session after Catalonia stopped short of formally declaring independence from Spain, putting a floor under the common currency.
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