Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was steady to higher against its major counterparts on Monday, as investors locked in gains following the announcement of fresh easing measures by the Federal Reserve and the subsequent rally in risk-related assets. During European afternoon trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.22% to 1.3100. The euro came under pressure after Spain's government faced protests over the weekend against public spending cuts, even as Madrid told its European partners that its next steps to overhaul the economy would avoid further cuts in public spending. Earlier Monday, European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny reminded Spain that it needs to apply for a rescue package to qualify for the central bank’s bond-buying program, while Reuters reported that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is set to unveil a further economic reform package late September. Also Monday, the ECB said that its current account fell to EUR9.7 billion in July, from EUR14.3 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the bank's current account to decline to EUR10 billion in July. A separate report showed that the euro zone's trade surplus narrowed unexpectedly to EUR7.9 billion in July from EUR9.3 billion the previous month. The greenback was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.06% to 1.6223. Industry data showed earlier that house prices in the U.K. fell by 0.6% in September, following a 2.4% drop the previous month. Elsewhere, the greenback was almost unchanged against the yen, with USD/JPY easing up 0.03% to hit 78.41, and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF adding 0.19% to trade at 0.9287. In addition, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD edging up 0.16% higher to 0.9732, AUD/USD dropping 0.42% to 1.0505 and NZD/USD dipping 0.07% to hit 0.8285. In New Zealand, the Westpac Banking Corporation said that its index of consumer sentiment rose to 102.5 in the thrid quarter, from a reading of 99.9 in the previous quarter. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.19%, to trade at 79.15. The greenback remained under pressure after the Fed announced last week that it would buy USD40 billion of mortgage-backed securities every month and would keep buying them until the job market improves. The bank also said it expects to keep short-term interest rates at record low levels through at least mid-2015, six months longer than previously anticipated. Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish an index of manufacturing activity in the New York area.

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