The euro continued to rise Wednesday against the U.S. dollar as traders speculated that the latest news from the U.S. Federal Reserve meant a pause in interest rate hikes. The euro rose to US$1.1836 in morning European trading, up from US$1.1814 late Tuesday in New York The British pound rose to US$1.7248 from US$1.7222 and in Japan, where markets were closed for a national holiday, the dollar bought 118.55 yen, down slightly from 118.78 the night before. The dollar has been rallying against the 12-nation euro recently as the United States has been continuing to raise interest rates while the European Central Bank has stood firm. Raising interest rates make a nation's currency more attractive by increasing the return on investments. But recent indications are that the ECB is now prepared to raise rates as well, and traders interpreted the minutes of the closed-door Nov. 1 Fed meeting released on Tuesday to mean it was thinking of halting the U.S. rate hikes. The euro was below the US$1.17 mark before the release of the minutes, in which policy-makers indicated that they remained worried about the possibility of resurgent inflation. But the minutes added that policy-makers continued to discuss how the brief policy statements issued at the end of the Fed's meetings might evolve over time.