NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar gained ground for the first session in seven Monday after the Institute of Supply Management’s index on U.S. manufacturing showed an improvement for December.
The dollar index , which measures the currency against a basket of six rivals, rose to 79.308, up from 79.02 on Dec. 31.
The euro slipped to $1.3320 from $1.3369 in late North American trading on Friday.
South Korea says open to dialogueIn a New Year's address, South Korean President Lee warns against military aggression by North Korea but says the door to dialogue is open. Video courtesy of Reuters.
The dollar rose to 81.65 Japanese yen, up from ¥81.24 Friday.
The ISM’s factory index rose to 57 in December from 56.6 in the prior month., roughly in-line with economists’ forecasts.
The greenback’s gains also came as U.S. Treasury yields rose, making the currency more attractive for overseas fixed-income investors. Read more on Treasury bonds.
Still, analysts noted very thin trading as several key global markets, including Japan and the U.K., remain shuttered.
Currency traders also will look to several sovereign-debt auctions this week to gauge how worried investors continue to be about the fiscal problems spreading throughout Europe, said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman payday loans for self employed.
More than $80 billion in sovereign and bank notes will be sold this year, he said. On Monday, France sold 8.523 billion euros in bills.
“The market may be more sensitive to the Portugal bill auction on Wednesday and the German and French bonds sales Wednesday and Thursday,” he said.
In the last session of 2010, the dollar index slid, thought it posted a 1.5% gain for the year. That was mostly on the back of a weak euro, with sovereign-debt worries weighing on the single currency.
The euro lost 6.5% against the greenback last year. However, the dollar lost 12.9% against the yen and touched the lowest level since 1995. Read more on dollar’s performance in 2010.
In related currency news, Estonia joined the euro-zone on Jan. 1, making it the 17th country that shares the euro.
