Investing.com - The dollar softened against the euro on Monday as mixed data out of the U.S. prompted investors to avoid the greenback and jump to the sidelines to await the release of the June jobs report later this week.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was up 0.31% at 1.3692, up from a session low of 1.3640 and off a high of 1.3698.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3576, Thursday's low, and resistance at 1.3723, the high from May 21.
Soft regional manufacturing data offset upbeat housing data and prompted investors to avoid the greenback
The National Association of Realtors reported earlier that pending home sales jumped 6.1% in May from April, rising to its highest level since last September. May's figure marked the largest increase since August 2010 and far surpassed forecasts for a 1.5% reading.
Still, the dollar slipped after industry data released earlier revealed that the Chicago purchasing managers’ index declined to 62.6 this month from 65.5 in May, missing expectations for a 63.0 reading.
Investors were turning their attention to the U.S. June nonfarm payrolls report, which will release a day early on Thursday due to the Independence Day holiday on Friday, avoiding the dollar during the trading session to await the jobs report as well as a key manufacturing gauge on Tuesday.
Meanwhile in Europe, the euro saw support after preliminary data revealed that the euro zone's annual inflation rate remained unchanged at 0.5% in June, easing pressure on the European Central Bank to announce fresh monetary easing measures.
It was the ninth consecutive month in which the inflation rate was below 1%. The ECB targets an inflation rate of close to but just under 2.0%.
The core inflation rate ticked up to 0.8% from 0.7% in May.
The ECB announced a package of measure aimed at staving off the threat of deflation on June 5, including cutting rates to record lows and imposing negative rates on lenders to encourage lending to consumers.
Elsewhere, the euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.05% at 0.8004, and up against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.14% at 138.65.