WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar gained marginally against most major currencies on Monday, even as traders continued to bet the Federal Reserve will announce a reduction in interest rate later this month.
Traders were also looking ahead to the European Central Bank's upcoming monetary policy meeting next week. The ECB had also sounded dovish about its policy stance after its last policy meeting.
The dollar index advanced to 96.97, gaining about 0.16% in the process.
Against the euro, the dollar strengthened to 1.1269 after having dropped to a low of 1.1288 earlier in the day.
The pound sterling was down nearly 0.5% with a unit of sterling fetching $1.2516, as against $1.2576 on Friday.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was flat. The yen moved in a narrow range of 107.80-108.11 a dollar and was last seen hovering around 107.90, its previous close.
The dollar was up 0.15% against the loonie at 1.3048, while it gained marginally against Swiss franc at 0.9843.
Against the Aussie, the dollar was down 0.27%, with the AUD-USD pair trading at 0.7039.
The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at a rate cut this month during his Congressional testimony last week.
The minutes of the central bank's latest policy meeting too noted many participants believe the case for lowering interest rates has strengthened.
The minutes said nearly all participants downwardly revised their assessment of the appropriate path for rates due to global developments that led to heightened uncertainties about the economic outlook.
A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York today showed that regional manufacturing activity rebounded in the month of July after having contracted unexpected a month earlier.
The New York Fed said its general business conditions index climbed to 4.3 in July from a negative 8.6 in June, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to rise to a positive 2.0.
The bigger than expected rebound by the general business conditions index came after it recorded its first negative reading in over two years in the previous month.
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