Investing.com - The euro held steady against the U.S. dollar in subdued trade on Monday, as investors remained cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen's testimony on the bank’s semiannual monetary policy report later in the week.
EUR/USD hit 1.3651 during European afternoon trade, the pair's highest since January 30; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3636, inching up 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3583, the low of January 16 and resistance at 1.3688, the high of January 28.
The dollar remained under pressure after the Labor Department on Friday said the U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in January, well below expectations for 185,000 new jobs, as inclement weather contributed to the slowdown in hiring.
The report also showed that the number of people participating in the labor force edged up to 63% from a 30-year low of 62.8% last month, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked down to a five year low 6.6% from 6.7% in December.
The report was seen as unlikely to prompt the Federal Reserve to halt reductions in its stimulus program. The bank announced a second cut to its asset purchase program in January, trimming it to $65 billion-per-month.
Meanwhile, the single currency's gains were limited as Germany's constitutional Court ruled last week that the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program may exceed its mandate, and referred it to European Court of Justice.
Markets shrugged off data released on Monday showing that French industrial production fell 0.3% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.1% uptick. Industrial production in November was revised down to a 1.2% increase from a previously estimated 1.3% rise.
The euro was fractionally higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.09% to 0.8315.
Trading volumes were expected to remain light, with no U.S. economic reports to be released throughout the session.