NEW YORK — The dollar continued its plunge to multimonth lows against the euro and the pound Monday as better-than-expected readings on manufacturing, consumer spending and construction spending drove investors to riskier assets. The economic data suggested the economy's decline is moderating, but did not yet show a rebound. Personal spending was down slightly in April, personal incomes were flat and U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the 16th straight month in May, although at a slower pace. Hope of an economic recovery has pushed the dollar down as investors trade it in for foreign equities and bonds. Further, continued worries over U.S. deficits and debt loads added to investors' wariness on the greenback. "There's an ongoing belief that the economy is past its worst point and is set to improve," said David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Connecticut. "Risk is back in fashion, and we're seeing money moving from the safety of government paper like the dollar and Treasury bills into things like equities, commodities, emerging markets, real estate — everything that got the snot knocked out of it last year is now being purchased with a vengeance." The 16-nation euro jumped to $1.4171 from $1.4132 late Friday, earlier trading at a five-month high of $1.4246. Meanwhile, the British pound surged to $1.6446 from $1.6140 and reached $1.6497 earlier in the session, its highest point since November. Also Monday, General Motors Corp.'s filed for bankruptcy protection, the fourth-largest in U.S. history. The filing was not shocking, but served as a reminder of the government's heavy involvement in corporate America following last year's market crash and economic tumble. The Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes rose more than 2 percent, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq composite rose to their highest levels this year. A market rally continues to be negative for the U.S. dollar, as investors trade in their "safe-haven" positions for higher-yielding assets. The stock market shrugged off falling Treasury prices and surging yields, which last week caused investors to worry that interest rates on consumer loans such as mortgages could go higher. A drop in U.S. oil inventories pushed oil prices to a new high for the year above $68 a barrel. Investors are betting that increased demand for goods will jump-start a demand for oil. They also often buy crude as a hedge against a dropping dollar. Gold, another commodity, is also used as a hedge against inflation, and gold prices have risen precipitously in recent weeks, breaking above $978 an ounce in New York on Monday. Meanwhile, positive data on Britain's manufacturing sector and housing market further added to hopes that the wider economy may start to recover in the second half of the year. But economists continued to stress caution and a former Bank of England policy maker warned that the country should be bracing itself for "big increases" in unemployment. In other late trading Monday, the dollar advanced to 96.52 Japanese yen from 95.15 yen late Friday and inched up to 1.0703 Swiss francs from 1.0678 francs. The dollar dropped to 1.0892 Canadian dollars from 1.0938 Canadian dollars.

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