MW: Dollar little changed after ISM says manufacturing drops
By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - The U.S. dollar was little changed Monday against some major currencies after a report showed manufacturing contracted more than expected in October. Gains in equities showed risk appetite has improved, reducing demand for the Japanese yen. The dollar bought 98.55 yen, little changed from 98.67 yen late Friday. The dollar fell more than 7% against the yen last month. The dollar index , a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, fell to 85.719 from 85.834 in late North American trading Friday. The Institute for Supply Management said its factory index fell to 38.9% from 43.5% in September. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch predicted the index would decline to 41.5%. Any reading under 50% would indicate that more firms contracted last month than expanded.
