Investing.com - The euro held gains against the U.S. dollar in subdued trade on Monday, as lowered expectations for an early U.S. rate hike continued to weigh on the greenback, although global growth concerns still dampened market sentiment.
EUR/USD hit 1.2697 during European early afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2692, gaining 0.51%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2582, the low of October 7 and resistance at 1.2792, the high of October 9.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable amid fears that Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy is being dragged into a recession after recent data indicated unexpected weakness in manufacturing and exports.
Data released last Thursday showed that German exports fell 5.8% in August, and this followed weak industrial output figures on Tuesday.
Sentiment was also hit after the International Monetary Fund last week cut its forecasts for global growth in 2014 and 2015 and warned that global growth may never reach its pre-crisis levels ever again.
The fund revised down its growth forecasts for the euro area’s three largest economies Germany, France and Italy.
Meanwhile, the dollar struggled to regain traction after the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's September meeting prompted investors to push back the expected timing of a Fed rate hike.
On Friday, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said weaker-than-expected global growth could prompt it to slow the pace of eventual interest rate hikes.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.30% to 0.7880.
Trading volumes were likely to be light on Monday with U.S. markets to remain closed for the Columbus Day holiday.