WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar stayed largely subdued against major currencies on Monday amid speculation the Federal Reserve will continue to maintain its current stance with regard to interest rates right through 2019.
The U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on Sunday that economic expansion would been stronger if not for the Fed, weighed on greenback.
Trump tweeted :'Quantitative tightening was a killer, should have done the exact opposite!'
The dollar index, at 90.93, was little changed from the unchanged line about an hour ago, after having dropped to a low of 96.79 earlier in the day.
Against the Euro, the dollar was down at 1.1306. The greenback was weak against British Pound Sterling, with a unit of the U.K currency fetching $1.3094, up from $1.3074 earlier.
The Yen was little changed against the dollar at 112.03 and loonie was lower by about 0.3%.
The dollar gained against Swiss franc but was flat against the Aussie.
In U.S. economic news, consumer sentiment has deteriorated by more than anticipated in the month of April, after seeing a notable improvement in March, according to a report from the University of Michigan.
The preliminary report showed the consumer sentiment index dropped to 96.9 in April from the final March reading of 98.4. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 98.0.
The bigger than expected decrease by the headline index reflected less optimism about the economic outlook, as the index of consumer expectations slid to 85.8 in April from 88.8 in March.
On the other hand, the report said the current economic conditions index inched up to 114.2 in April from 113.3 in the previous month.
Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin described the decrease by the consumer sentiment as 'insignificant,' saying, Consumer confidence continued its sideways shuffle in early April.'
'Overall, the level of the Sentiment Index during the past 30 months was higher than any other time since 1997 to 2000, the final phase of the record 10-year expansion,' Curtin said.
Meanwhile, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed New York manufacturing activity picked up pace in April. However, it still remained fairly subdued, the report said.
The New York Fed said its headline general business conditions index climbed to 10.1 in April after falling to 3.7 in March, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to rise to 6.0.
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