NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar rose against the yen but lost ground against the euro Monday, amid little overseas economic data and declining trading volume.
The dollar index which measures the U.S. currency against a trade-weighted basket of six major counterparts, rose to 81.23 from 80.410 in late North American trading on Friday.
A positive longer-term outlook on the Obama administration's plans for the economy and the impact of the current low interest-rate policy may be helping the dollar, said Greg Salvaggio, vice president for capital markets at Tempus Consulting Inc.
With the U.S. government helping out automakers and developing plans to stimulate the housing market, "the U.S. economy is likely the best situated to recover soonest from the global downturn," Salvaggio said.
Weighing on the euro, industrial production orders for the single currency euro zone fell in October, dropping a much sharper-than-expected 4.7% from the previous month and 15.1% compared to a year earlier.
The euro bought $1.3944, paring most of the overnight gains but still higher than its level late Friday.
Also, European Central Bank Governing Council member Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said Sunday the bank may cut interest rates next month if inflation expectations were significantly less than 2%.
Some currency moves may be exaggerated, with traders backing off as Christmas and year-end approaches, Salvaggio said.
"It's year-end and, as is typical, liquidity has all but dried up," he said. "This year, with the credit situation, risk tolerance among financial players is all but gone."
The dollar rose to 90.22 Japanese yen from 89.35 yen (C_JPY:
, , ) , as that country's exports fell at a record pace last month. See story on Japan's trade gap.
In other Asian news, the People's Bank of China lowered interest rates by 0.27 percentage point.
Crude oil fell nearly 6% to under $40 barrel, as demand worries outweighed expectations of more cuts form the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. See crude oil report.
