The U.S. dollar slid against major rivals Monday, as equities improved ahead of data that could indicate some stabilization in the housing market.
The U.S. dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of rivals, slid to 82.800 from 82.949. That index is up nearly 14% over 12 months.
The euro advanced to $1.3504 from $1.3494.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index traded up 1.7%, helped after home-improvement retailers Lowe's Companies posted better-than-expected quarterly results. See stocks report.
"The dollar is near session lows versus most majors, as the driver continues to be the risk backdrop, as Wall Street adds to gains," said analysts at Action Economics.
A survey from the National Association of Home Builders is the key release on Monday's calendar.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch think the NAHB index most likely continued to improve to 16 in May after it jumped to 14 in April. This would be the highest level since last June.
The reading would still be far below 50, the dividing line between the industry's expansion and contraction.
"Data wise, the U.S. NAHB housing survey is likely to show further signs of stabilization," said analysts at Credit Suisse in a note to clients.
Meanwhile in Europe, the Eurostat statistics agency said the euro-zone trade balance was a positive 400 million euros, compared to a 2.3 billion euro deficit in March 2008 and a 1 billion euro deficit in February 2009.
The dollar rose to 96.10 Japanese yen from 95.25 yen late Friday, as investor willingness to buy riskier assets like stocks weighed most heavily on the yen. Japan's currency was also responding to rising concerns about its gains versus the dollar. So far this quarter, the dollar has lost 3.1%.
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Japanese Vice Finance Minister Kazuyuki Sugimoto was quoted at a press conference as saying the "negative impact of excessive market volatility on the economy and financial markets is undesirable."
"We will continue to the monitor [the situation] closely," he said.
One reason for the yen's recent strength has been the relative weakness of U.S. bond performance.
"If, as we have suggested, recent yen strength is partly a product of life insurers' reappraisals of their domestic market, then growing -- albeit tentative -- signs of economic stabilization in Japan (and in its export markets) can only underpin bond investors' confidence in this strategy," said Neil Mellor, an analyst of the Bank of New York Mellon, in a note to clients.
