NEW YORK: The euro edged higher against the dollar Wednesday as markets remained relatively calm despite fresh tensions in the Middle East after Israel launched new attacks on Gaza targets.
The euro took a momentary jump when minutes released from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed it ready to expand bond purchases next year to hold interest rates down, but it fell back to end with only modest gains on the greenback.
At 2200 GMT, the euro was at $1.2734, up from $1.2703 late Tuesday. It spiked to $1.2772 after the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee were released, but immediately fell back.
"The FOMC left monetary policy unchanged through their October meeting, but the minutes from that decision indicate that many members favored more quantitative easing as the key 'Operation Twist' measure is due to expire next month," said David Rodriguez at DailyFX.
Markets showed no immediate reaction after Israel killed a top Hamas commander in an air strike, stoking geopolitical tensions in the crude-rich Middle East region.
Israel said the attack marked the start of a new operation against Palestinian militants, while Palestinians threatened reprisals, Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel, and the UN Security Council and the Arab League each called emergency meetings.
Against the Japanese currency, the euro surged to 102.19 yen from 100.85 yen. The dollar gained to 80.23 yen from 79.38 yen.
The British pound slipped to $1.5840, while the dollar was lower against the Swiss franc at 0.9447 francs.
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