The U.S. dollar climbed against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Monday as traders bet on safe havens after Greece failed to form a new government.

Coalition talks in Greece continued throughout the weekend with party leaders failing to form a government, forcing Greek President Karolos Papoulias to call a final meeting to be held Monday.

Also, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lost an election in North Rhine-Westphalia, raising doubts that her party will be able to stay in power after next year's general election.

The greenback reached a 10-day high of 80.14 against the yen and new 2-month high of 0.9328 against the franc, compared to Friday's closing values of 79.93 and 0.9299, respectively. The next upside target level for the greenback is seen at 80.5 against the yen and 0.94 against the franc.

Against the pound and the euro, the greenback climbed to more than a 3-week high of 1.6056 and near a 4-month high of 1.2883 with 1.60 and 1.28 seen as the next upside target levels, respectively. The greenback finished last week's deals at 1.6076 against the pound and 1.2922 against the euro.

The greenback rose above parity against the Australian dollar for the first time since December 20, 2011. The greenback spiked up to 0.9998 against the aussie from last week's closing value of 1.0024. If the greenback rises further, it may target 0.990 level.

The number of housing loans approved in Australia picked up for the first time in three months in March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed today.

The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupied housing rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in March after falling 2.5 percent in February and 1.5 percent in January. Economists were expecting a 2 percent decline.

Against the NZ currency, the greenback that rose to more than a 4-month high of 0.7799 in early deals moved sideways thereafter. On the upside, the greenback may target 0.775 level. The kiwi-greenback pair is now trading at 0.7820, compared to last week's close of 0.7831.

Retail sales in New Zealand declined at the fastest pace in three years in the March quarter, after a temporary boost from the Rugby World Cup in the previous two quarters played out, data released by Statistics New Zealand showed.

Retail sales, including trade in vehicles, fell 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the March quarter.

The US dollar edged up to as high as 1.0024 against its Canadian counterpart and held steady thereafter. The next upside target level for the greenback is seen at 1.007. At last week's close, the pair traded at 1.0005.

In the European session, German wholesale price index, Swiss producer & import prices for April and the Eurozone industrial production for March are slated for release.

There are no major economic reports due from U.S. today.

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