U.S. dollar falls ahead of Fed meeting

The U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies on Monday as investors were awaiting the closely-watched Federal Reserve meeting due to open on Tuesday.

Analysts said although investors don't expect the central bank officials to raise interest rates at the upcoming meeting, recent positive economic data has nonetheless bolstered market speculation for a rate-hike later this year.

The seasonally adjusted Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from June's reading of 51.3 to 52.9 in July, the highest level in a year, pointing to a solid improvement in overall U.S. business conditions.

Moreover, U.S. Commerce Department reported last week that privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.189 million units, 4.8 percent above the revised May estimate. The latest reading also beat market consensus of 1.170 million.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, has been lingering at four-month highs in the previous sessions. It inched down mildly of 0.19 percent to register at 97.282 in late trading on Monday.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0993 dollars from 1.0956 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.3125 dollars from 1.3093 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7469 dollars from 0.7463 dollars.

The dollar bought 105.78 Japanese yen, lower than 106.09 yen of the previous session. The dollar fell to 0.9860 Swiss francs from 0.9887 Swiss francs, and it inched up to 1.3223 Canadian dollars from 1.3154 Canadian dollars. Enditem