Investing.com - The dollar edged lower against most of the other main currencies on Monday as the euro stabilized following steep losses in the previous two sessions, but the euro looked likely to remain under pressure amid heightened expectations for fresh easing by the European Central Bank.
EUR/USD was last trading at 1.3771, not far from the one-month trough of 1.3744 reached late Friday.
The euro fell from two-and-a-half year highs against the dollar on Thursday after ECB President Mario Draghi said the banks is “comfortable” with acting to shore up growth and stop inflation from falling too low at its next meeting in June.
The ECB left rates on hold on Thursday, as widely expected.
The dollar was slightly higher against the yen, with USD/JPY edging up 0.10% to 101.95, holding above the three-week trough of 101.42 hit last week.
Investors remained cautious after pro-Russian separatists claimed victory in a weekend referendum on self-rule in eastern Ukraine, fuelling fears that the country is sliding closer to civil war. The vote has been condemned by Ukraine’s government and the West.
The pound was trading close to recent multi-year highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD up 0.14% to 1.6873, holding below last week’s peaks of 1.6993.
Demand for sterling continued to be underpinned by expectations for a U.K. rate hike in the early part of next year after a recent series of strong economic data indicated that the recovery is deepening.
Elsewhere, USD/CHF was steady at almost one-month highs of 0.8865. The Swiss franc was little changed after official data on Monday showed that Swiss retail sales jumped 3.0% from a year earlier in March, ahead of expectations for a 2.3% increase.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were almost unchanged, with AUD/USD at 0.9365 and NZD/USD trading at 0.8615. Meanwhile, USD/CAD was steady at 1.0895.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was at 79.88, edging down 0.05%.