By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen on Monday, but gained ground against several major rivals.
Against the yen, the dollar USDJPY -0.17% bought 79.00 yen, from ¥79.07 late Friday.
The dollar index DXY +0.61% , which tracks the U.S. unit’s performance against a basket of six currencies, traded at 75.427, from 75.148 late Friday. Read “How high can Japan’s yen go?”
“Markets have traded with a risk-off bias to start the week,” Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets said.
Trinh said there were no obvious catalysts for the risk-off tone, but that weak U.S. stock futures ensured “the dollar is better bid, with the Japanese yen outperforming.”
Progress in the U.S. debt ceiling talks will be closely monitored this week, as the Aug. 2 deadline for Congress to pass legislation to prevent default looms. Read the latest on debt-ceiling negotiations in Washington.
In Europe, attention will be fixed on a special euro-zone meeting Thursday to discuss the financial stability of the region, and the future financing for Greece.
The euro EURUSD -0.49% traded at $1.4066, from $1.4146 in North American trade late Friday while the British pound GBPUSD -0.22% bought $1.6100, down from $1.6135 late Friday.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD -0.46% traded at $1.0593, from $1.0647 late Friday.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
