2021.03.1520:40:00UTC+00Dollar Gains Against Most Of Its Peers

The U.S. dollar stays fairly positive against most of its peers on Monday amid fears over a spike in inflation. Traders are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday.

The Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are also scheduled to announce their monetary policies this week.

The Fed's views on economic outlook and surging bond yields may well set the near term trend for financial markets. The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note dropped a bit from Friday's 1.642%, but was steady around 1.61%.

Traders are also awaiting some crucial economic data, such as the reports on retail sales, industrial production and housing starts, this week.

A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday showed an acceleration in the pace of growth in New York manufacturing activity in the month of March.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions index climbed to 17.4 in March from 12.1 in February, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to rise to 14.5

The dollar index, which advanced to 91.97, pare some gains subsequently, and was last seen at 91.78, up 0.11% from previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed up to $1.1932, gaining nearly 0.2%.

The Pound Sterling was weaker against the dollar, fetching $1.3900 per unit, 0.14% less than Friday's close of $1.3919.

The Yen was trading at 109.14 a dollar a little while ago, down more than 0.1%.

The AUD-USD pair is quoting at 0.7758, giving the greenback a gain of about 0.08%.

The Swiss franc was stronger by 0.3% at 0.9274 a dollar, while the Loonie was at $1.2471, little changed from previous close. Canada's manufacturing sales surged 3.1% to C$ 56.2 billion in January from a month earlier, after rising by an upwardly revised 1.3% in December, data released by Statistics Canada showed.

According to data released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), housing starts in Canada declined 13.5% over a month earlier to 245,922 units in February, compared to market forecasts of 250,000 units.