Dollar Drifts Lower Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar shed ground against its major counterparts on Monday, weighed down by largely disappointing economic data, including a report showing a less than expected increase in retail sales in the month of February.

Traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday. The Bank of England, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan are also scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements this week.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.2% in February after tumbling by a revised 1.2% in January.

Economists had expected retail sales to climb by 0.7% compared to the 0.9% slump originally reported for the previous month.

A report from the University of Michigan showed a much steeper than expected drop by its reading on U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of March. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index plunged to 57.9 in March after tumbling to 64.7 in February.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing regional manufacturing activity dropped significantly in the month of March.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions index plunged to a negative 20.0 in March after jumping to a positive 5.7 in February, with a negative reading indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to fall to a negative 1.9.

A report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Monday showed a continued deterioration by U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of March. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell to 39 in March after slumping to 42 in February. Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged.

The dollar index dropped to 103.30 and was last seen at 103.37, down 0.33% from previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0923 from 1.0879. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar lost ground, easing to 1.2990 a unit of the British currency, nearly 0.5% down from previous close.

The dollar climbed higher against the Japanese currency, fetching 149.18 yen a unit. Against the Aussie, the dollar weakened to 0.6385.

The dollar eased against Swiss franc, dropping to CHF 0.8809 a unit, from CHF 0.8849. Against the Loonie, the dollar weakened to C$ 1.4292, giving up more than 0.5%.