Dollar steady against its major counterparts ahead of central bank meeting

U.S. dollar remained steady against other major currencies on Monday, as investors remained cautious before the ECB meeting of the policy and U.S. employment data later this week -

During European afternoon, the dollar rose slightly against the euro, with EUR / USD gaining 0.05% to hit 1.2572.

Continued demand for the euro, supported by expectations that the European Central Bank will Baagraouat monetary stimulus to help stabilize the markets in the euro zone before its next meeting on Thursday.



The dollar remained under pressure after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that the Fed will act as needed to promote U.S. economic recovery, but stopped short of suggesting that a new round of stimulus is imminent.

The dollar fell slightly against the pound, with GBP / USD gaining 0.13% to hit 1.5887.

Pound found support after data showing that the rate of contraction in the manufacturing sector declined significantly in the United Kingdom in August.

Markit said that the index of purchasing managers in the United Kingdom rose to 49.5 in August from 45.4 reading in July, beating expectations for an increase to 46.2.

Elsewhere, little changed on the dollar against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD / JPY up 0.10% to hit 78.30 in and rising dollar / franc rate of 0.02% to trade at 0.9550.

And ignore the Swiss franc data showing that the manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell unexpectedly in August. Another report showed that Swiss retail sales rose less than expected in July.

The dollar rose broadly against its Australian and New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD / USD shedding 0.83% to trade at 1.0239, and NZD / USD gaining 0.68% to hit 0.7980 and higher USD / CAD shedding 0.04% to hit 0.9865

And growth-linked currencies fell growth Australian and New Zealand dollar earlier after official data showed that activity in the manufacturing sector in China has fallen to its lowest level in nine months in August, raising concerns that the economy is slowing faster than expected.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.12% to hit 81.30.
Remain quiet trade on Monday, with no major economic data released in the calendar, while remaining markets in the United States closed for the Labor Day holiday.