LONDON, Aug 17 Reuters The dollar held onto gains against other major currencies on Wednesday, ahead of the release of minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve39;s July meeting that could give further clues about the pace of further interest rate hikes.

The greenback has recovered the ground it lost since softerthanexpected inflation data last week led to investor bets that price rises may have peaked, weakening the dollar. 

The question is whether the Fed wants to use these minutes as a communication tool to push back against the view of a 2023 easing cycle, ING currency analysts said in a note.

Several Fed officials have signalled over the past week that the central bank will still act decisively to combat inflation, helping lift the dollar back up.

U.S. retail sales data due later on Wednesday will also be watched closely as an indicator of the economy39;s resilience.

The dollar index was last broadly flat on the day at 106.510. It has recovered by around 2 since last week39;s postinflation data low, but remains more than 2 off the twodecade high of 109.29 hit in midJuly.

The euro was also broadly unchanged versus the dollar at 1.01785, ahead of the final reading for euro zone GDP in the second quarter due later on Wednesday, after preliminary data showed faster than expected growth despite the deteriorating outlook. 

Sterling gained 0.2 to 1.21155 , after official data showing British consumer price inflation jumped to 10.1 in July the highest since February…