Investing.com - The euro remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday, hovering near a more than two-year trough as upbeat manufacturing data from the U.S. lent further support to the greenback.
EUR/USD hit 1.2441 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since August 2012; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2482, shedding 0.34%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2441 and resistance at 1.2617, the high of October 31.
In a report, the Insitute of Supply Management said its manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 59.0 this month from 56.6 in September. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 56.2 in October.
The data added to optimism over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery after the University of Michigan reported on Friday that its consumer sentiment index rose to a seven-year high of 86.9 this month from 86.4 in September.
The single currency had weakened earlier, after Markit research group said that the German manufacturing PMI fell to 51.4 in October from a reading of 51.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Markit's manufacturing PMI for the entire euro zone ticked down to 50.6 this month from 50.7 in September. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.20% to 0.7814.
In the U.K., Markit said the manufacturing PMI rose to 53.2 this month from 51.6 in September. Analysts had expected the index to slip to 51.2 in October.