Investing.com - The euro edged slightly lower against the greenback on Monday despite a solid German business sentiment report, as soft data out of the Chinese housing sector sparked global safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was trading at 1.3736, down 0.02%, up from a session low of 1.3708 and off a high of 1.3773.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3686, Thursday's low, and resistance at 1.3774, Wednesday's high.
Data released earlier revealed that home prices in major Chinese cities rose 9.6% in January, short of December's 9.9% growth.
Growth fell for the first time in 14 months in January, which fueled already growing fears that the world’s second largest economy is slowing as the government tries to deal with bad loans and weak lenders, which sparked safe-haven demand for the greenback.
The euro did see some support after German research institute Ifo said its business climate index came in at 111.3 in February, the highest level since mid-2011, up from 110.6 in January. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading.
German firms are benefitting from high export demand the report said, though ongoing emerging-market volatility concerns clouded the outlook.
The future expectations component of the index ticked down to 108.3 from 108.9 in January, though it did beat expectations for a decline to 108.2.
A separate report showed that the annual rate of euro zone inflation came in at 0.8% in January, unchanged from the previous month and slightly higher than the preliminary estimate for 0.7%. Consumer prices were down 1.1% from a month earlier, in line with forecasts.
The euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.18% to 0.8251, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY trading down 0.01% at 140.81.
On Tuesday, the European Commission is to publish its economic forecasts for European Union member states.
The U.S. is to release data on consumer confidence and a private sector report on house price inflation.