WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar firmed up against all major currencies on Monday with governments across the globe resorting to strict lock down rules, and working overtime to come out with steps including more monetary easing measures.
The dollar index rose to 99.32 this afternoon, and despite paring some gains subsequently, was still up 0.7% from previous close, at 99.03 around late afternoon.
Against the Euro, the dollar strengthened to $1.011 before giving up some ground. It was last seen at $1.1046, up 0.8% from previous close.
Against Pound Sterling, the dollar firmed up to $1.2392 from $1.2460 on Friday.
The yen moved in a very tight range around the flat line against the dollar and was at 107.89 at close, compared to 107.94 in the previous session.
The Loonie weakened to $1.4161 from Friday's 1.3985.
Against the Aussie, the dollar firmed up to 0.6133 from its previous close of 0.6168. The Swiss franc eased to 0.9573 a dollar from 0.9517 a dollar.
A report from the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected jump in pending home sales in the month of February.
NAR said its pending home sales index surged up by 2.4% to 111.5 in February after spiking by 5.3% to an upwardly revised 108.9 in January. The continued increase surprised economists, who had expected pending home sales to pull back by 1%.
However, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun noted the latest data does not capture the significant fallout from the coronavirus pandemic or the measures taken to control the outbreak.
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