Investing.com - The dollar and the yen remained stronger on Monday as concerns over the unfolding crisis in Ukraine fuelled safe haven demand, while data showing that U.S. manufacturing activity beat forecasts in February also boosted the dollar.
EUR/USD fell to session lows of 1.3747 and was last down 0.23% to 1.3769.
The dollar was boosted after the Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 53.2 last month from 51.3 in January, ahead of forecasts for an increase to 52.0.
The report attributed the rise to an increase in new orders after bad weather caused disruption at the start of the year.
The euro remained under pressure as escalating tensions over the crisis in the Ukraine sparked a broad based selloff in risk assets, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into the Crimea region over the weekend.
The move sparked fears that the West will impose sanctions on Russia. Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates from 5.5% to 7% on Monday, after the rouble fell to new record lows against the euro and dollar.
In the euro zone, data on Monday confirmed that the region’s manufacturing PMI dipped lower for the first time in five months in February, highlighting the fragile nature of the recovery in the euro area.
The single currency’s losses were held in check after euro zone inflation data late last week eased pressure on the European Central Bank to tighten monetary policy at its upcoming meeting on Thursday.
The dollar was trading close to one-month lows against the broadly stronger yen, with USD/JPY down 0.35% to 101.43, while EUR/JPY was down 0.54% to 139.70.
The dollar was also weaker against the traditional safe haven Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading at 0.8807, not far from the 16-month lows of 0.8775 struck on Friday.
GBP/USD was down 0.15% to 1.6718, after falling to lows of 1.6702 earlier.
Sterling recovered from lows after data on Monday showed that the strong upswing in the U.K. manufacturing sector continued in February, with jobs growth in the sector accelerating to a 33-month high.
The Markit U.K. manufacturing PMI for February came in at 56.9, up from a revised 56.6 in January. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 56.5.
A separate report showed that the number of mortgages approved in the U.K. rose to 76,947 in February, the highest level since November 2007, from 72,798 in January.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD edging up 0.07% to 0.8933, while NZD/USD slid 0.13% to 0.8373.
The U.S. dollar pushed higher against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD rising 0.18% to 1.1084.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.12% to 79.90.