Oil prices gave up ground on Monday as traders take profits of the past handsome rises, after the commodity notched its third straight weekly gain last week, hitting multi-months highs, while the dollar sipped ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting later this week.

The Federal Reserve Bank will hold its periodic meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, with analysts expecting it to leave interest rates and the monetary policy unchanged for the time being, while likely hiking it in July, which would offer some hope for the dollar bulls.

Brent crude futures dipped 23 cents, or 0.55% to trade at $44.83 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gave up 34 cents, or nearly 0.80% to hover around $43.37 a barrel, firmly above the important level of $40.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency's performance against a basket of six major rivals, edged down 0.13% to 94.99, while the greenback dropped 0.36% against Japan's yen to trade at 111.32. The euro climbed 0.14% to 1.1239.

Investors wait for an array of data later today, with a survey tracking the business climate in Germany expected to edge up to 107.1 in April, compared to March's 106.7, which would indicate a steady pace of growth and expansion for the economy.

From the U.S., new home sales are forecast to have jumped to an annualized 521 thousand units in March, compared to February's 512K, which would indicate a strengthening housing sector in the world's largest economy.