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Dollar steady ahead of Fed minutes, New Zealand dollar falls after rate cut

The dollar drifted sideways on Wednesday, giving some relief to the yen and other major currencies after a sharp rally to a seven-week high last week, as investors paused to assess the interest rate path outlook for the United States.

The New Zealand dollar slumped to its lowest since Aug. 19 at $0.6096, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates by 50 basis points.

The kiwi was last down 0.55% at $0.61035.

A majority of economists in a Reuters poll last week had predicted a big half a percentage point cut. The central bank kicked off an easing cycle in August seeking to trim rates from 15-year highs.

The U.S. data calendar this week is relatively light, offering a breather after a strong jobs report on Friday sent the dollar jumping and markets repricing the expected scale of upcoming interest rate reductions.

On Wednesday, investors will get minutes of the Fed's September meeting, which will show discussions about what at the time had appeared to be a deteriorating labor market that ended with all but one policymaker agreeing to a 50-basis point cut.

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