Investing.com - The dollar was mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Monday, as Friday's upbeat U.S. growth data continued to support, while markets eyed an upcoming report on U.S. manufacturing activity due later in the day.
The dollar remained supported after the Commerce Department reported on Friday that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the last three months of 2014, down from an initial estimate of 2.6% but ahead of expectations for a downward revision to 2.1% growth.
The greenback was also boosted after the February reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was revised up to 95.4 from the preliminary reading of 93.6. While this was down from the previous months final reading of 98.1, it was still the second highest level since January 2007.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 95.16.
EUR/USD rose 0.29% to 1.1227 after Eurostat reported that the annual rate of consumer inflation declined 0.3% in February, better than forecasts for a drop of 0.4%, following a 0.6% decline the previous month.
Core inflation, which strips out food and energy costs, was unchanged from January at 0.6%.
Another report showed that the euro zone’s unemployment rate fell to a 33-month low of 11.2% in January, down from 11.3% in December. It was the lowest level since April 2012.
The euro’s gains were capped however, as investors turned their attention to the upcoming European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, where it was expected to announce details of its quantitative easing program.
The dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY up 0.15% to 119.74 and with USD/CHF adding 0.18% to 0.9559.
In other trade, sterling slipped lower, with GBP/USD down 0.15% to 1.5415.
The pound showed little reaction to data showing that activity in the factory sector rose to a seven-month high last month, indicating that the economic recovery is picking up after slowing at the end of last year.
The Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 54.1 in February from 53.1 in January. Economists had expected the index to tick up to 53.4.
Earlier Monday, the Nationwide Building Society said that U.K. house prices fell 0.1% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise, after an increase of 0.3% in January.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were broadly weaker, with AUD/USD shedding 0.24% to 0.7788 and NZD/USD declining 0.45% to 0.7534.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged down 0.16% to 1.2494.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to report on U.S. manufacturing activity.