1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed amid Fed minutes, data

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major peers on Wednesday following the release of the Federal Reserve minutes and a batch of economic data from the country.

The Fed's January meeting minutes showed the central bank policy makers were concerned that the falling crude prices and the rout of global financial market could pose risks to the U.S. economy.

"Participants judged that the overall implications of these developments for the outlook for domestic economic activity was unclear but they agreed that uncertainty had increased," said the minutes. "Many saw these developments as increasing the downside risks to the outlook."

On the economic front, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,099,000, missing market consensus, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

This is 3.8 percent below the revised December estimate of 1,143,000, but is 1.8 percent above the January 2015 rate of 1,080,000.

The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday that the seasonally adjusted Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand advanced 0.1 percent in January, beating market estimates.

U.S. industrial production increased 0.9 percent in January after decreasing 0.7 percent in December, said the Fed Wednesday. A storm late in the month likely held down production in January by a small amount.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1132 dollars from 1.1142 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.4280 dollars from 1.4291 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7172 dollars from 0.7101 dollars.

The dollar bought 113.83 Japanese yen, lower than 113.88 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved up to 0.9916 Swiss francs from 0.9883 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3714 Canadian dollars from 1.3877 Canadian dollars. Endit