Investing.com - The dollar slid lower against a basket of other major currencies on Monday, as investors locked in profits from the greenback's recent rally to 11-1/2 year highs against a basket of other major currencies and as markets eyed U.S. data to be released later in the day.
The dollar strengthened broadly on Friday after downbeat U.S. data dampened optimism over the strength of the economy, weighing on market sentiment.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that producer prices fell 0.5% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.3% gain, after a 0.8% decline in January.
Separately, the University of Michigan said that its consumer sentiment index fell to a four-month low of 91.2 this month from 95.4 in February, disappointing expectations for a rise to 95.5.
Market participants were now eyeing Wednesday’s Federal Reserve statement to see if it would drop its reference to being patient before raising rates and signal that it is ready to hike rates depending on economic data.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.40% to 100.31, still close to Friday's highs of 100.78, the strongest since September 2003.
EUR/USD climbed 0.43% to 1.0540, pulling away from Friday's 12-year low of 1.0460.
The euro remained under pressure after the European Central Bank began purchasing securities on Monday as part of an asset-buying program amounting to €60 billion a month.
Concerns over the situation in Greece also weighed, as the eurogroup of finance ministers continued talks in Brussels to discuss a reform package put forward by Greece as part of its bailout review.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 121.35 and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.16% to 1.0039.
In Switzerland, the Federal Statistical Office earlier reported that retail sales declined 0.3% in January, disappointing expectations for a gain of 2.6%. Retail sales growth in December was revised down to a gain of 1.9% from a previously reported increase of 2.2%.
Data also showed that Swiss producer prices slumped 1.4% last month, compared to forecasts for a gain of 0.4%, after a 0.6% decline in January.
Year-over-year, the producer price index fell at a rate of 3.6% in February, worse than expectations for a 3.3% decline, after dropping 2.7% in January.
Sterling gained ground, with GBP/USD rising 0.33% to 1.4795, up from Friday's nearly five-year lows of 1.4696.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7635, while NZD/USD edged up 0.18% to 0.7357.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD fell 0.14% to 1.2765, holding just below six-year highs of 1.2817 hit earlier in the session.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce reports on industrial production and manufacturing activity in the New York region, as well as private sector data on the housing market.