1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises ahead of Yellen testimony

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Monday as investors were awaiting Tuesday 's testimony from the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

The semi-annual monetary policy testimony is expected to give the market more clues about when the central bank would raise interest rates.

The euro pared last week's gains against the dollar amid investor doubts as to whether the newly-reached Greek agreement would keep the country afloat. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six other currencies, was up 0.33 percent at 94. 564 in late trading.

On the economic front, U.S. existing-home sales declined in January to their lowest level in nine months, said the National Association of Realtors on Monday. Total existing-home sales fell 4.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million in January from an upwardly-revised 5.07 million in December.

In late New York trading, the euro went down to 1.1335 dollars from 1.1411 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.5455 dollars from 1.5406 dollars. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.7798 dollars from 0.7847 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 118.87 Japanese yen, lower than 119.07 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar edged up to 0.9506 Swiss francs from 0.9421 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.2577 Canadian dollars from 1.2532 Canadian dollars. Endite