Dollar Falls Back Against Major Rivals
The dollar lost its footing Monday in New York and declined against its major rivals after a steady climb a week earlier.</br></br>The U.S. currency fell to intraday lows against the euro and yen Monday as currency traders began to re-evaluate the broader economic picture, one week after sending the dollar to multiweek highs when the Federal Reserve signaled a pause in easing interest rates and the government released a better-than-expected jobs report.</br></br>"It's true that Friday's jobs data beat expectations, but it's equally true that the economic effects of the credit-market crunch and housing decline will be felt for some time to come," said Robert Lynch, currency strategist at HSBC in New York.</br></br>The euro was also lifted against the dollar during the New York session by a surge in crude-oil prices Monday, which rose above $120 a barrel for the first time, to $120.36, settling at $119.97. That struck the Dow Jones Industrial Average, pushing the dollar down against the yen.</br></br>Trading was thin Monday as markets in several countries were closed for holidays, including the United Kingdom and Japan.