Investing.com - The dollar edged moderately higher against the other major currencies in quiet trade on Monday, as the greenback continued to recover from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy statement and no major U.S. economic reports were to be released throughout the day.
EUR/USD slipped 0.18% to 1.1249.
The National Association of Retailers said that existing home sales fell 7.1% in February to 5.08 million units from 5.47 million units in February. Analysts had expected existing home sales to drop by 2.2% to 5.34 million units last month.
The greenback recovered from losses posted after the Federal Reserve said last week that it is likely to raise interest rates only twice this year – and not four times, as initially estimated.
The euro came under pressure after European Central Bank Chief Economist Peter Praet said on Friday that euro zone interest rates could go even lower.
USD/JPY edged up 0.13% to 111.71.
Markets in Japan were to remain closed for a national holiday.The dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.65% at 1.4391 and was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9696.
The pound weakened after Ian Duncan Smith, U.K. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and a big voice in the Conservative party, unexpectedly announced his resignation late Friday over disagreements on a budget he considers to be “deeply unfair”.
In a parting statement on Sunday, Duncan Smith explained that his decision was not based on his support for the leave campaign, known as Brexit, with regard to the referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union to be held on June 23.
He criticized the budget for causing substantial reductions in disability benefits while offering tax cuts for the wealthy.
Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.28% at 0.7585 and with NZD/USD dropping 0.59% to 0.6755.
USD/CAD gained 0.48% to trade at 1.3068, after hitting a five-month low of 1.2919 on Friday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.23% at 95.29, off Friday’s five-month low of 94.61.