Investing.com - The dollar edged higher against the euro on Monday but remained close to three-month lows after recent downbeat U.S. economic reports added to the view that the Federal Reserve will delay hiking interest rates for longer.
EUR/USD dipped 0.1% to 1.1438, not far from the three-month high of 1.1466 struck on Friday.
Data on Friday showed that U.S. industrial production fell for the fifth straight month in April and another report showed that U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated to a seven month low this month.
The Federal Reserve said industrial output slid 0.3% after a revised 0.3% decline in March. Economists had expected an increase of 0.1%.
The University of Michigan's preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment index for May came in at 88.6, down from a final April reading of 95.9 and worse than forecasts for a reading of 96.0
The reports came after disappointing data on retail sales and producer inflation earlier in the week and dampened hopes for a second quarter rebound after a sharp slowdown in growth in the first three months of the year.
The greenback pushed higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.35% to 119.64.
In Japan, data on Monday showed that core machinery orders rose 2.9% in March, the first increase in two months. However the report also indicated that core orders will fall in the current quarter, adding to concerns over the outlook for the recovery.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.16% to 93.44, off Friday’s four-month lows of 93.29.