BERLIN_The euro climbed against the dollar on Monday after disappointing data from the U.S. on the sale of new homes dimmed hopes of a rebound in the troubled housing market.

In afternoon European trading, the 13-nation euro bought US$1.3333, up from US$1.3290 in New York late Friday.

The British pound rose to US$1.9695 from US$1.9614, while the dollar fell to 117.79 Japanese yen from 118.05 yen.

The dollar was battered last week, but recovered slightly after the National Association of Realtors reported Friday that sales of existing homes rose by 3.9 percent in February _ the largest one-month gain in nearly three years.

Those gains were wiped out Monday after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes fell by 3.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000, the slowest pace in nearly seven years.

The February decline followed an even larger 15.8 percent drop in sales in January _ the largest one-month drop in 13 years. The back-to-back declines provided evidence that the housing market is continuing to struggle with lagging demand and a glut of unsold homes.