The dollar index eased slightly on Monday as investors tempered recent war concerns to await U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for Iran to come to an agreement.

In its response to the U.S. proposal, Tehran pushed back against pressure to swiftly reopen the Strait of Hormuz under a temporary ceasefire, saying it wanted a lasting end to the war, in a response that consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the strait, lifting of sanctions, and reconstruction.

President Donald Trump, who has threatened to rain "hell" on Tehran if it did not make a deal by 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday (midnight GMT) to open the vital route for global energy supplies, rejected the Iranian proposal as "not good enough" and said his deadline was final. The ISM said its nonmanufacturing purchasing managers' index slipped to 54.0 last month from 56.1 in February and compared to the Reuters consensus forecast of 54.9.

The ISM survey's measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs soared 7.7 percentage points to 70.7, the highest reading since October 2022. This gauge has remained above 60 for 16 straight months, and the percentage increase was the largest in more than 13 years. The ISM price gauge was the kind of data that could produce further struggles for EUR/USD -- especially if PCE and CPI due later in the week corroborate the story of rising inflation -- though the euro was up on Monday. USD/JPY was holding a slight bullish tone above the Tenkan-sen. GBP/USD has support ahead of the March 31 low but needs a move above the 21-DMA and last week's high to build momentum. In AUD/USD's bounce, there are some reasons for bulls to feel comforted.

U.S. Treasury yields were 1-2 basis points lower across maturities with the 2s-10s curve flattening slightly.

The S&P 500 was trading 0.37% higher in New York afternoon.

WTI crude oil rose 1.54%.

Copper was up 0.38%.

Gold eased 0.28%.

Heading toward the close: EUR/USD +0.18%, USD/JPY +0.08%, GBP/USD +0.4%, AUD/USD +0.53%, =USD -0.33%, EUR/JPY +0.34%, GBP/JPY +0.43%, AUD/JPY +0.5%.(Burton Frierson)