TOKYOLONDON, May 23 Reuters The dollar hovered near a oneweek high on Thursday after its biggest daily percentage gain this month against a basket of peers a day before as minutes of the last Fed meeting revealed a willingness to raise interest rates among some officials,

The pound was unmoved by the announcement of a British election, having jumped to a twomonth peak following hotterthanexpected inflation on Wednesday, while the New Zealand dollar continued its climb as an unexpected rise in local retail sales added to hawkish guidance from the central bank pushing back bets for rate cuts.

The dollar index , which tracks the currency against six major rivals including sterling, the euro and yen, was a whisker higher at 104.93 after gaining 0.28 the day before.

Fed officials at their April 30May 1 session indicated they still had faith that price pressures would ease, if only slowly, but the meeting summary also reflected discussion of possible tightening, the minutes released Wednesday showed.

The minutes provide further pushback against market expectations for the Fed to begin lowering rates this year, said Lee Hardman, senior FX strategist at MUFG in a note, though he added that since that Fed meeting on May 1 the U.S. economic data flow has softened.

MUFG expect the Fed to wait until at least September to cut rates.

The delayed start to the Feds rate cut cycle remains a supportive development for the U.S. dollar but at the current juncture it is not…