Investing.com - The euro edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as markets were eyeing euro zone inflation data to be released later in the day, while comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last week continued to weigh.
EUR/USD hit 1.3897 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3894, slipping 0.14%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3834, the low of March 11 and resistance at 1.3966, the high of March 13 and a two-and-a-half year high.
Demand for the single currency remained under pressure after ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that the strong euro was putting downward pressure on euro zone inflation.
Draghi said the strength of the euro was becoming increasingly relevant to the bank’s assessment of price stability, indicating growing concerns that the appreciation of the euro could undermine the fragile recovery in the euro area.
Meanwhile, the greenback was also vulnerable after a preliminary report on Friday showed that the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 79.9 this month, from a reading of 81.6 in February, confounding expectations for a rise to 82.0.
Data also showed that U.S. producer price inflation fell 0.1% in February, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise, while core producer price inflation, which excludes food, energy and trade, slipped 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise.
Elsewhere, over 90% of Crimean voters on Sunday chose to break with Ukraine and join Russia. U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington rejected the results of the referendum and warned that the U.S. was ready to impose sanctions on Moscow.
The euro was fractionally lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP edging down 0.08% to 0.8350.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on manufacturing activity in the Empire State, as well as reports on industrial production and long term securities transactions.