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NEW YORK CITY: The dollar held steady against the euro Monday amid signs the White House and Congress are nearing a budget and debt agreement to left a government shutdown and avert default.
The euro bought $1.3559 around 2100 GMT, up slightly from $1.3543 at the same time Friday.
The dollar crept higher to 98.67 against the Japanese yen from 98.58 yen on Friday, while the euro also gained slightly to 133.79 yen from 133.54 yen.
After a weekend of no discernible progress, rival Republican and Democratic Senate leaders Monday said they were optimistic they could forge a deal to stave off a devastating debt default.
Signs of hope emerged three days before Thursday's deadline to raise the US government's borrowing limit and with a partial government shutdown on the cusp of entering its third week.
If Congress does not raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling by Thursday, the US Treasury says it will run out of ways to pay its obligations, raising the prospect of an unprecedented default by the world's largest economy.
The White House announced that President Barack Obama would meet with the Senate leaders and then abruptly postponed the meeting to allow them "to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government."
"This is a crucial week in the financial markets and based upon the price action in currencies, FX traders have nerves of steel," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.
"Another day has passed without Congress reaching an agreement to raise the debt ceiling or fund the government for a few weeks and yet losses in the dollar are limited.
"While the greenback traded lower against most of the major currencies, the losses were small as the dollar recovered from a steeper slide at the start of the North American session."
The dollar slipped against the Swiss currency, to 0.9102 franc from 0.9121 franc Friday.
The pound rose to $1.5980 from $1.5951.
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