LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar held small gains versus major rivals Monday, boosted by renewed concerns over the outlook for the world economy.
The dollar index (DXY 79.80, -0.08, -0.10%) , a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, traded at 79.958, up slightly from 79.830 in North American trading Friday afternoon.
"The U.S. dollar has started the week a touch firmer, with renewed concerns over the global recovery helping the greenback ahead of a busy week" of economic data, wrote strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman.
The week's key report will be June U.S. non-farm payrolls. A MarketWatch survey of economists produced a median forecast for 325,000 job losses in June. The Labor Department will release the data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, a day earlier than usual due to the Friday observation of the Independence Day holiday. Read Economic Preview.
The euro trimmed earlier losses to trade at $1.4045, still down from $1.4068 late Friday.
The euro and other major rivals gained ground on the dollar at the end of last week after China's central bank said it would continue to push for an alternative to the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency. See earlier story.
The euro trimmed Monday after the European Commission's economic sentiment indicator posted a stronger-than-expected rise. The index rose to 73.3, up from 70.2 in May, the European Commission reported Monday.
Economists had forecast a smaller rise to 70.9. The reading marked the third consecutive month of rising sentiment, though readings remain near historically low levels, the Brussels-based commission said
"While still well below the lows reached in the 1992 recession, the index is now more than eight points above March's low, suggesting the economy has turned the corner," wrote economists at BNP Paribas, in a research note.
The British pound moved slightly higher versus the U.S. dollar to trade at $1.6569, up from $1.6538 Friday afternoon.
The Bank of England on Monday reported a weaker-than-expected rise in net consumer lending. See full story.
The yen slipped against the dollar Monday, initially weakening as Asian stock markets posted early gains and improved Japanese industrial output data increased investors' risk appetite and lessened the appeal of safe-haven currencies.
The dollar bought 95.35 yen, up from 95.10 yen in late North American trading on Friday but off of the intra-session high of 95.59 yen, as many Asian stock markets gave up their morning gains.
Japanese industrial output data for May came in less upbeat than some economists had expected, but still marked the third month of improvement, raising hope that the nation's economy could pull out of its slump. See Economic Report on Japan's industrial output data.
