Euro Higher As ECB Meeting In Focus

The euro strengthened against its major rivals in the European session on Monday, ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement due later this week that is expected to deliver a 50 basis point increase in key rates.

The 50 basis point increase will take the main refinancing rate to 2.5 percent and the deposit rate to 2 percent.

Investors are anticipating details on how the ECB will unwind bond purchases made under the stimulus program.

A pullback in the dollar index ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting and the inflation data further supported the currency.

The Fed is widely expected to slow down the pace of tightening, and raise interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.25-4.50 percent.

The euro was higher against the kiwi and the aussie, at 1.6504 and 1.5606, respectively. The currency is poised to find resistance around 1.67 against the kiwi and 1.61 against the aussie.

The EUR/JPY pair touched 144.60, its highest level since November 30. The currency is likely to find resistance around the 146.00 level.

The EUR/CAD pair reached nearly a 10-month high of 1.4442. The currency is seen finding resistance around the 1.47 level.

The EUR/GBP pair edged up to 0.8617 around 2 am ET and held steady thereafter. The pair had ended last week's deals at 0.8577.

The euro rose to 1.0574 against the greenback and 0.9857 against the franc, from an early low of 1.0506 and a 10-day low of 0.9826, respectively. The next possible resistance for the euro is seen around 1.09 against the greenback and 1.05 against the franc.