The dollar is down as the U.S. denies Russian Ukraine claims

The U.S. Dollar Index dragged down 0.07% to 95.766 by 9:56 PM ET.

The USD/JPY pair went up 0.92% to 115.48.

The AUD/USD pair stood up 0.25% to 0.7208, and the NZD/USD pair was up 0.35% to 0.6700.

The USD/CNY pair inched down 0.08% to 6.3328, while the GBP/USD pair inched up 0.07% to 1.3591.

The euro was around $1.1378 early in the Asia session. It rallied as Russia signaled a military pullback, a step forward in decades’ most profound regional crisis. However, on Wednesday, the U.S. said that the Russian statement was false.

Investors also appeared relieved that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting took a much less hawkish turn than they had expected.

Qi Gao, the Scotiabank strategist, said in a note that they did not mention any discussion about a half-point move. They didn’t disclose details about the timing or the monthly speed of the planned balance sheet reduction.

Overview of the Dollar and other currencies

The U.S. dollar index dropped about 0.3% after the minutes to 95.768 and remained close to this level on Thursday. However, according to Gao, it could probably fall a bit lower toward 95.1.

In January, Japan released trade data in the Asia Pacific that showed the most significant trade deficit in eight years. The adjusted trade balance was at $8.06 billion, while the trade balance was at 2.19 trillion. Exports rose 9.7% year-on-year, while imports increased 39.7% year-on-year.

Australia released employment data earlier that showed the employment change was 12,800. In January, the total employment change was –17,000, while the unemployment rate was 4.3%. However, the data was insufficient to lift the Australian dollar through resistance around $0.7211. The New Zealand dollar is also in focus. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand might hike interest rates by 25 basis points on Feb. 23.

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