2010.09.2008:50:00UTC+00Dollar Wobbles Ahead Of Housing Data

The dollar moved fractionally lower versus most major currencies Monday morning, ahead of data on the sluggish US housing market.

The National Association of Homebuilders will release the results of its September survey on homebuilders' confidence at 10 AM ET. Economists expect the index to rise to 14 from 13 reported for August.

The Commerce Department's housing starts report for August and the existing and new home sales report are due out later in the week.

Trading may be subdued on Monday, as most are unlikely to take aggressive positions ahead of the latest interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.

The Fed is expected to weigh more stimulus at this week's meeting, and will keep interest rates at a record low near zero percent.

The dollar edged slightly lower to Y85.65 versus the yen, but remained little changed over the past three days. The buck rebounded from a 15-year of 82.86 last Wednesday, but has since been unable to follow through.

Meanwhile, the buck eased about a penny from Friday's level versus the euro, touching $1.3100. Last week, the dollar hit a monthly low of $1.3159 before stabilizing.

Germany's finance ministry on Monday said it expects the economic recovery to continue into the second half of the year, albeit at a significantly slower pace.

Consumer spending is likely to pick up and help to further stimulate domestic demand, it said. The ministry also forecast the labor market to improve further as the cyclical upswing continues.

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