Investing.com - An upbeat report on U.S. homebuilder sentiment pushed the dollar higher against the euro on Monday.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was down 0.29% at 1.3362, up from a session low of 1.3359 and off a high of 1.3399.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3336, last Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.3412, Friday's high.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index increased to 55.0 in August, a seven-month high, from 53.0 in July, beating estimates for a reading of 53.0.
A level above 50.0 indicates a favorable outlook on home sales and below indicates a negative outlook.
“As the employment picture brightens, builders are seeing a noticeable increase in the number of serious buyers entering the market,” said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly.
Waning fears that the Russian-Ukraine conflict will escalate also bolstered the greenback.
Russian and Ukraine foreign ministers were set to meet later in the day, which sparked hopes that diplomats will reach a breakthrough to ease geopolitical tensions in the region.
The euro, meanwhile, continued to come under pressure due to ongoing expectations that monetary stimulus programs in the U.S. will wind down at the same time the European Central Bank takes steps to loosen policy.
Elsewhere, the euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.51% at 0.7988, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.15% at 136.98.
The pound strengthened broadly after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said over the weekend that interest rates could rise before wage growth picks up.
In a newspaper interview published on Sunday, Carney said that the bank did not have to wait for wage growth to recover before raising interest rates, shifting away from comments last week indicating the opposite.
Investors were looking ahead to Wednesday’s minutes of the BoE’s August policy meeting for signs that the bank is moving closer to hiking benchmark interest rates.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to release reports on building permits, housing starts and consumer inflation.