FOREX-Dollar stalls near one-month high after Fed minutes

* GRAPHIC: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

(Recasts; adds analyst quotes; updates prices)
By Kate Duguid
NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar held near a
one-month high on Wednesday after minutes from the May Federal
Open Market Committee meeting showed officials agreed that their
current patient approach to setting monetary policy could remain
in place "for some time."
Policymakers saw little need to change rates in either
direction. A rate hike in 2019 is unlikely, even as the U.S.
economy continues to grow and inflation remains muted, the
minutes showed.
"People were looking for any type of pessimism that would
lead to (the Federal Reserve) cutting rates. But at this moment
they don't want to do that," said Juan Perez, senior foreign
exchange trader and strategist, Tempus, Inc.
The message communicated, Perez said, was that the FOMC
"cannot afford to either hike or lower rates."
The Federal Reserve's last meeting came before U.S.
President Donald Trump's administration increased tariffs on
Chinese goods and intensified global trade tensions further with
restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
HWT.UL . The potential economic risks of a trade war were
therefore not a main topic of discussion.
"Clearly with the flare-up in trade tension between the U.S.
and China since the meeting, that brought up the downside risk
for growth. The minutes seem a bit stale at this point," said
Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.
Against a basket of rivals, the dollar .DXY was steady at
98.071 and just shy of a one-month high of 98.134.
While investors in risky assets heaved a sigh of relief
after the United States eased trade restrictions on Huawei, the
lack of a significant breakthrough has kept them on edge.
Stronger safe-haven assets, namely the Japanese yen JPY=
and Swiss franc CHF= up 0.17% and 0.20% respectively,
indicated lingering skepticism.
Sterling was the biggest loser towards the end of the North
American session GBP= down 0.35% to $1.266. It had earlier
fallen to its lowest since Jan. 4 after political uncertainty in
Britain deepened as Prime Minister Theresa May's final attempt
to seal a Brexit deal failed to win over opposition lawmakers
and many in her own party.
May resisted growing calls to resign on Wednesday, vowing to
press on despite mounting opposition from lawmakers. In the
latest blow to the prime minister, prominent Brexit supporter
Andrea Leadsom resigned from May's cabinet, saying she could no
longer support the government's approach to negotiating an exit
from the European Union.
Elsewhere, the euro was little changed, last 0.02% weaker at
$1.115 EUR= .