News: FOREX-Dollar edges higher in cautious trade ahead of Fed minutes

• Yuan further buoyed by trade talk hopes
• Yen loses more ground to dollar after weak data
• Euro/dollar trades quietly before Fed policy minutes
• Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

(Recasts, adds new comment, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

The dollar on Wednesday recovered from the previous sessions' roughly two-week lows to trade slightly higher on the day within narrow ranges as traders remained cautious ahead of the release of U.S. monetary policy minutes.

The minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting will be closely watched following a dovish statement a few weeks ago.

"The minutes may shed light on whether the Fed will raise rates at all this year," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst, at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.

"Dovish minutes that downplay chances of higher rates this year would risk pushing the greenback further away from recent two-month peaks," he added.

The dollar, measured against a basket of currencies, edged 0.1 percent higher at 96.578 .DXY , below a two-month high hit last week but modestly higher than Tuesday's two-week low.

Analysts say weaker than expected U.S. retail sales and industrial production numbers published this month have dented the near-term outlook for the dollar. According to MUFG, the data "challenged the view that the U.S. economy will continue to hold up relatively well while overseas economies are displaying more acute weakness".

The dollar, however, rose 0.2 percent against the yen to 110.82 JPY= after disappointing trade numbers showed Japanese exports fell the most in two years in January.

The yen had also taken a hit on Tuesday after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank was ready to ramp up stimulus measures if sharp yen rises hurt the economy.

China's yuan, meanwhile, rose after the United States pressed Beijing to prevent a sharp weakening of its currency as part of any trade deal.

The yuan, a strong performer in 2019, firmed to a three-week high on optimism Washington and Beijing are close to agreeing on a deal to end their trade conflict.

In offshore markets, the yuan rose 0.4 percent to as much as 6.7168 CNH= , its strongest since Feb. 1.

The euro was little changed against the dollar at $1.1344 EUR= as investors waited for cues on where U.S. monetary policy is headed after the Fed's recent dovish tilt.

Europe's single currency has struggled this month as worries grow about the state of the euro zone economy. So far this month, the euro is down 0.9 percent.

ABN AMRO analyst Georgette Boele said the bank had downgraded its euro forecasts for 2019 because of economic concerns. But she also expects limited downside in the currency because weaker-than-expected euro zone data have had a limited negative impact on the euro, suggesting that most of the weakness is already reflected in the price.

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	Currency bid prices at 10:14AM (1514 GMT) 

 Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
											  Previous				   Change				  
											  Session											
 Euro/Dollar	  EUR=		$1.1339		$1.1340	 -0.01%		 -1.14%	  +1.1359	 +1.1325 
 Dollar/Yen	   JPY=		110.8200	   110.6100	+0.19%		 +0.51%	  +110.9400   +110.5400 
 Euro/Yen		 EURJPY=	 125.68		 125.44	  +0.19%		 -0.43%	  +125.9300   +125.3700 
 Dollar/Swiss	 CHF=		1.0004		 1.0010	  -0.06%		 +1.94%	  +1.0021	 +0.9998 
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=		1.3027		 1.3062	  -0.27%		 +2.12%	  +1.3076	 +1.3013 
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=		1.3180		 1.3206	  -0.20%		 -3.35%	  +1.3219	 +1.3171 
 Australian/Doll  AUD=		0.7162		 0.7163	  -0.01%		 +1.60%	  +0.7176	 +0.7142 
 ar																							  

 Euro/Swiss	   EURCHF=	 1.1347		 1.1353	  -0.05%		 +0.83%	  +1.1366	 +1.1336 
 Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	 0.8702		 0.8679	  +0.27%		 -3.14%	  +0.8714	 +0.8677 
 NZ			   NZD=		0.6875		 0.6882	  -0.10%		 +2.35%	  +0.6884	 +0.6851 
 Dollar/Dollar																				   

 Dollar/Norway	NOK=		8.5859		 8.5631	  +0.27%		 -0.61%	  +8.5986	 +8.5568 
 Euro/Norway	  EURNOK=	 9.7373		 9.7155	  +0.22%		 -1.70%	  +9.7455	 +9.7132 
 Dollar/Sweden	SEK=		9.3224		 9.3091	  +0.11%		 +4.00%	  +9.3341	 +9.2945 
 Euro/Sweden	  EURSEK=	 10.5730		10.5610	 +0.11%		 +3.01%	  +10.5810	+10.5398 
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China's yuan vs the dollar	http//tmsnrt.rs/2EkeLJl 

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