U.S. Dollar Climbs Before Powell's Speech

The U.S. dollar firmed against its major counterparts in the New York session on Monday, as investors await key economic data and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech for clues on the monetary policy outlook.

Powell will speak at the ECB Forum in Sintra on Tuesday.

The minutes of Fed's June FOMC meeting, jobs data for June and job openings data for May are also due this week.

The jobs data is expected to show a slowdown in the pace of job growth in the month of June and could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Data from the Institute for Supply Management showed that U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at a slightly faster rate in the month of June.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI edged down to 48.5 in June from 48.7 in May, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 49.1.

The greenback recovered to 1.0719 against the euro and 1.2636 against the pound, from an early nearly 3-week low of 1.0776 and nearly a 2-week low of 1.2709, respectively. The greenback is seen finding resistance around 1.05 against the euro and 1.24 against the pound.

The greenback advanced to more than a 4-week high of 0.9044 against the franc and a 38-year high of 161.72 against the yen, off its early lows of 0.8975 and 160.68, respectively. The next possible resistance for the greenback is seen around 0.92 against the franc and 163.00 against the yen.

The greenback rose to 0.6643 against the aussie and 0.6065 against the kiwi, from an early 5-day low of 0.6688 and a 4-day low of 0.6107, respectively. The currency is likely to locate resistance around 0.64 against the aussie and 0.58 against the kiwi.

The greenback touched near a 2-week high of 1.3747 against the loonie. Next key resistance for the currency is seen around the 1.39 level.