By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar gained slightly against the euro but slipped against the British pound and Japanese yen in thin trading Monday, with some markets in Asia and most markets in Europe still closed for holidays. Currency markets will watch how U.S. stock markets respond to Friday's strong unemployment report, since equity markets were closed that day for Good Friday. The ISM's services index and data on pending home sales are due for release during the session, while the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors meeting to discuss the discount rate is also on the radar. The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.3517, +0.0029, +0.2150%) slipped to $1.3475 from $1.3487 late Friday, and the British pound (CUR_GBPUSD 1.5280, +0.0015, +0.1009%) rose to $1.5265 from $1.5203. Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar (CUR_USDYEN 94.3600, -0.3000, -0.3169%) bought 94.48 yen, compared with 94.53 yen late Friday. The dollar index (DXY 81.11, -0.01, -0.01%) , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, declined to 81.174, compared with 81.280 in late North American trading Friday. The Canadian dollar was one of the biggest gainers versus the U.S. currency, which fell almost 0.6% against the loonie in recent action to buy C$1.0062. The Canadian and British currencies are components of the dollar index. The Canadian dollar rose to the highest level since July 2008, on path to test parity with its U.S. counterpart -- something that hasn't happened since then. Also helping the loonie, crude prices rose, and economists expect Canada to also show its job market improved in a report Friday. Last Friday, the dollar gained against other major currencies after the U.S. Labor Department said the U.S. economy added the most number of jobs in three years. See Friday's Currencies report. The Fed's Board of Governors will meet Monday to consider the discount rate, now at 0.75%, to be charged by Fed banks to institutions seeking emergency funds. The discount window is rarely used now, so has little impact on the economy and a sign of normalizing financial markets. When the central bank last raised the discount rate, it said it wasn't an indication of monetary policy. Still, markets initially took the news as an indication that the Fed thinks the broader economy is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates, which would tend to support the dollar. Chinese yuan The U.S. Treasury on Saturday announced that it is delaying a report on whether China manipulates its currency, the yuan. The Treasury had been due to issue its semiannual report April 15. The U.S. decision to delay a report on whether China is manipulating its currency stems from hope that a diplomatic solution to the dispute can be worked out, according to senior administration officials over the weekend. See full story on China yuan. "The signal that the U.S. Treasurer is willing to negotiate should be modestly good news for risky currencies in the coming days as it reduces the probability that the U.S. will levy tariffs on Chinese goods, which would be the worst outcome for both the U.S. and China, and risky assets," currency analysts wrote Monday. "Risky" currencies refer to higher-yielding units.

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