Investing.com - The dollar rose to fresh three-week highs against the other major currencies on Monday, despite the release of disappointing U.S. housing sector data as Friday’s stong U.S. economic growth continued to support.
USD/JPY dropped 0.98% to 112.88, off Friday’s one-week highs of 114.00.
The U.S. National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index sank by 2.5% last month to hit a one-year low, confounding expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
The disappointing data came after market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index tumbled by 8.0 points to 47.6 this month from a reading of 55.6 in January. Analysts had expected the index to fall 2.6 points to 53.0 in February.
The greenback remained supported however after data on Friday showed that while the U.S. economy slowed in the fourth quarter, the pace of the slowdown was not as steep as initially estimated.
But the safe-haven yen was stronger after continued to be underpinned after China took steps to weaken its currency and bolster market liquidity on Monday, adding to concerns over the outlook for the world’s number-two economy.
The yen also found support after a weekend meeting of G20 leaders ended without any concrete measures to get the global economy back on track after a rocky start to the year.
EUR/USD slid 0.58% to 1.0870.
Data earlier showed that the euro zone’s consumer price inflation fell by 0.2% this month, missing expectations for a gain of 0.1% and following a 0.3% increase in January.
It was the first negative inflation figure since September, when consumer prices fell 0.1%, and is well below the European Central Bank’s target of close to but just below 2.0%.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs increased by 0.7% in February, below forecasts for 0.9% and down from 1.0% a month earlier.
The dollar was steady against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD at a seven-year low of 1.3887 and with USD/CHF gaining 0.34% to 1.0002.
Data on Monday showed that the U.K. net lending to individuals rose by £5.3 billion in January, exceeding expectations for an increase of £5.2 billion. Net lending to individuals rose by £4.3 billion in December, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated £4.4 billion gain.
Sterling remained under pressure amid ongoing uncertainty over the U.K.’s future in the European Union.
In Switzerland, data showed that the KOF Economic Barometer rose to 102.4 in February from 100.4 in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated reading of 100.3. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 98.8.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.13% at 0.7136, while NZD/USD retreated 0.74% to 0.6584.
USD/CAD eased up 0.09% to 1.3525.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.21% at 98.34, the highest since February 3.