Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Monday, after data showed that U.S. factory orders fell in February and as comments from a Federal Reserve official sparked fresh speculation over additional policy tightening this year.
USD/JPY was down 0.24% at 111.43.
The U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders declined by 1.7% last month, in line with expectations. Factory orders rose 1.2% in January, revised from the initial read of a 1.6% increase.
Meanwhile, Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren said that he felt the market was mistaken in its expectations for only zero to one rate hikes this year.
"I personally expect that a stronger economy, at essentially full employment and with gradually rising inflation, will lead to more tightening than is currently priced into the futures market expectations for the next two years," Rosengren said.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1384.
Eurostat earlier reported that the euro zone’s unemployment rate fell to 10.3% last month from 10.4% in February, whose figure was revised up from 10.3%.
Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 10.3% in March.
The dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.37% at 1.4276 and was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.20% to 0.9601.
Data earlier showed that the Markit U.K. construction purchasing managers index came in at 54.2 last month, matching February’s 10 month low but above expectations of a dip to 54.0.
Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.90% at 0.7613 and with NZD/USD declining 0.78% to 0.6844.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday that building approvals increased by 3.1% in February, exceeding expectations for a 2.0% gain. Building approvals declined by 6.6% in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 7.5% drop.
A separate report showed that Australia’s retail sales were flat in February, compared to expectations for a 0.4% rise, after an uptick of 0.3% in January.
USD/CAD gained 0.27% to trade at 1.3045.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 94.59, close to last week’s five-and-a-half month low of 94.30.