Forex Pros – The euro extended gains against the U.S. dollar on Monday, rising to a fresh daily high as investors downplayed the impact of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s arrest on sexual-assault charges over the weekend. EUR/USD hit 1.4198 during early U.S. trading hours, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4196, rising 0.55%. The pair was likely to find support at 1.3868, the low of March 17 and resistance at 1.4339, Friday’s high. Earlier in the day, a spokesman for Olli Rehn, the European Union economic and monetary affairs commissioner said the events would not have any impact on programs currently under way or on future decisions to be made regarding the region’s debt crisis. European finance ministers were meeting in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday to discuss details of Portugal’s bailout and how to address Greece’s renewed debt problems, although an immediate solution on Greece was not expected. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said earlier that its index of manufacturing conditions tumbled to 11.9 in May, far outstripping expectations for a decline to 19.6. "The change was driven by a decline in the share of businesses reporting that conditions improved over the month, from 35% in April to 23% in May," the report said. The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR\/GBP rising 0.45% to hit 0.8754. Also Monday, official data showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone rose in line with expectations in April, up 2.8%, unchanged from a preliminary estimate.

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