Dollar mostly rises ahead of ECB decision
The Associated PressThe dollar traded mixed Monday, rising against the euro and pound but slipping versus the yen as investors anticipated a rate cut this week from the European Central Bank.
The 16-nation euro slipped to $1.3395 in late New York trading Monday from $1.3429 late Friday, while the British pound fell to $1.4843 from $1.5134.
Meanwhile, the dollar slipped to 89.07 Japanese yen from 90.49 yen.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to reduce its interest rate from the current 2.5 percent when it meets Thursday.
The Bank of England cut its rate last week by half a percentage point to 1.5 percent, the lowest level in the bank's 315-year history. The British economy has been battered by a housing crisis and a string of failed retailers.
Most of the other major world economies, including the U.S. and Japan, have already ratcheted rates down to near zero. Lower rates can help jump-start an economy, but weigh on a currency as investors seek higher returns elsewhere.
Investors were also anxious ahead of the Federal Reserve's beige book, its assessment of the economy by region. The report, which will be released Wednesday, provides details about the strengths and weaknesses in each part of the country.
Washington reported Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate had jumped to 7.2 percent, the highest in 16 years. The U.S. lost 524,000 jobs in December, bringing the total job loss for last year to 2.6 million, the largest since World War II.
Wall Street is expecting fourth-quarter and full-year numbers this week to be particularly bleak, especially after several companies warned last week that they are being hit hard by the recession.
In other late trading Monday, the dollar dipped to 1.1131 Swiss francs from 1.1147 francs late Friday, but rose to 1.2148 Canadian dollars from 1.1869.