Investing.com - The dollar slid lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, as investors locked in profits from the greenback's broad rally following fresh signs of a potenial U.S. rate hike before the end of the year.
USD/JPY dropped 0.40% to 123.14, pulling away from Wednesday's three-month high of 123.75.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's October meeting showed on Wednesday that a majority of board members are in favor of a December rate hike.
"While no decision had been made, it may well become appropriate to initiate the normalization process at the next meeting," the minutes said.
Meanwhile, the yen regained strength after the Bank of Japan maintained its current pace of monetary stimulus on Thursday, going against recent market expectations for additional easing measures.
"Japan's economy is expected to continue recovering moderately," the BoJ added in its monthly policy statement.
EUR/USD rose 0.35% to 1.0697, off the previous session's six-month trough of 1.0616.
The euro's gains were held in check as the European Central Bank is expected to expand its quantitative easing program and possibly cut rates further into negative territory at its December meeting.
The single currency also remained under pressure amid concerns that the terrorist attacks in Paris could undermine the already fragile economic recovery in the region.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.22% at 1.5267 and with USD/CHF slipping 0.17% to 1.0180.
Earlier Thursday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales fell 0.6% last month, worse than forecasts for a decline of 0.5%.
On a year-over-year basis, retail sales rose 3.8% in October, below expectations for a 4.2% gain, after rising at an annualized rate of 6.2% in September.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, fell 0.9% last month, worse than forecasts for a 0.5% decline after rising 1.5% in September.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD advancing 0.85% to 0.7170 and with NZD/USD climbing 0.65% to 0.6514.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD declined by 0.39% to trade at 1.3250.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.37% at 99.30, still close to Wednesday's seven-month high of 99.96.