Forexpros – The euro was steady against the U.S. dollar on Monday, amid renewed optimism that Italy will be able to make progress on resolving its financial crisis but gains were limited as uncertainty over the region’s debt crisis persisted. EUR/USD hit 1.3802 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since November 9; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3763, still up 0.09%. The pair was likely to find support at 1.3577, last Friday’s low and resistance at 1.3858, the high of November 9. Over the weekend newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, a former European Union competition commissioner, said he would name his Cabinet "with urgency." Monti must present the names of his Cabinet ministers to Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano before he can be sworn in. In Greece, the country’s finance minister said his priority was to ensure the country receives its sixth tranche of bailout funds after Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was sworn in. The euro was also slightly higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.06% to hit 0.8565. Later in the day, Italy was to auction EUR3 billion of five-year government bonds, in what was being seen as a key test of investor confidence in Italian debt. The euro zone was also to publish official data on industrial production.

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