NEW YORK: The euro-dollar rate was stable late Monday around the $1.42 level as traders looked ahead to a likely eurozone rate hike.
The euro touched a high of $1.4268, its strongest level in five months, before settling back to $1.4220 at 2100 GMT, barely changed from late Friday's rate.
"On balance, the dollar remains weak and there has been little reason for recovery with no US economic data on the calendar," said Kathy Lien of Global Forex Advisors.
"Four central banks will be making monetary policy announcements this week and the minutes from the last Fed meeting should shed light on how far behind the Federal Reserve is from everyone else," she said.
On Tuesday the US central bank will release the minutes from its policy meeting three weeks ago, and analysts and traders will all be looking for a hint on whether it is moving toward tightening monetary policy.
The European Central Bank has sent strong signals that it could raise interest rates soon to beat back inflation.
But Fed officials have continued to argue publicly that despite the soaring prices of fuel and food, "core" inflation remains yet subdued.
"Although they believe that the price pressures are 'transitory', they are keeping an eye on them in case commodity prices resume their rise and drive up inflation expectations," said Lien.
"However, the market is still only pricing in a 55 percent chance of a rate hike by the Fed this year compared to a 100 percent chance of a rate hike by the European Central Bank on Thursday."
The dollar was also stable against the yen, trading at 84.03 yen from 84.00.
The pound bought $1.6130, from $1.6109, and the dollar bought 0.9227 Swiss francs, barely down from 0.9238.
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