Investing.com - The dollar retreated against the yen on Monday, pulling back from the key psychological 100 level and remained higher against the euro after a report showed that U.S. existing home sales fell unexpected in March.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar erased gains against the yen, with USD/JPY sliding 0.26% to 99.26, down from session highs of 99.89.
The dollar rose to almost four-year highs against the yen earlier Monday after the Group of 20 nations said Japan's recent policy actions are aimed at beating deflation and not at competitively weakening the yen.
The dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.13% to 1.3032.
The euro failed make gains earlier as Italian stocks climbed and Italian government bond yields fell after Italy re-elected President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday.
President Napolitano was expected to begin work to form a new government later in the week, fuelling hopes that two months of political deadlock would be ended.
Sentiment on the single currency remained fragile amid fears that weak euro zone purchasing managers’ index data on Tuesday could intensify speculation over a possible rate cut by the European Central Bank.
Earlier Monday, ECB Vice-President Vitor Constancio said a rate cut is always a possibility and is dependent on economic data.
The dollar dipped lower against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.10% to 1.5242, but gained ground against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF climbing 0.25% to 0.9362.
The greenback was broadly higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD down 0.34% to 1.0242, NZD/USD losing 0.15% to trade at 0.8404 and USD/CAD inching up 0.04% to 1.0272.
The Australian dollar remained under pressure as recent weakness in global commodities prices weighed.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.06% to 82.93.
The National Association of Realtors said that U.S. existing home sales fell 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted 4.92 million units in March from February’s revised total of 4.95 million.
February existing home sales were initially reported at 4.98 million units.
Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to rise 0.5% to 5.01 million units in March.
