Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was up against other major currencies on Monday, amid nagging fears over the euro zone sovereign debt crisis in the wake of Spain's takeover of one of the country's largest lenders. The greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD slumping 1.47% to hit 1.2385 after the Bank of Spain stepped in over the weekend to rescue Cajasur, the Cordoba-based bank. The bank's collapse renewed fears over Spain's financial health, which the Spanish finance minister last week said would be hurt by austerity measures. Meanwhile, the dollar rose versus sterling and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD dropping 0.68% to hit 1.4358 and USD/CHF gaining 0.77% to hit 1.1584. The greenback also climbed against its Australian, Canadian and New Zealand counterparts: AUD/USD slid 0.42% to hit 0.8276, USD/CAD rose 0.18% to hit 1.0614 and NZD/USD tumbled 1.08% to reach 0.6714. In addition, the greenback was up versus the yen, with USD/JPY advancing 0.17% to reach 90.14 after Japan's Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry said an index that covers a broad range of Japanese economic activity slipped faster than forecast in March. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.95%. Later in the day, the National Association of Realtors, an industry group, was set to release key data on existing U.S. home sales, a leading indicator of economic health.

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