(RTTNews) - The dollar was stronger versus other major currencies Monday morning in New York, as global stocks slumped following big gains earlier this month.
On the final day of a strong month for stocks, traders are expressing some anxiety that few details have emerged to shed to light on Europe's sovereign debt rescue plan.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan intervened to weaken the yen, a few days after the currency touched another record peak versus the dollar.
Reports quoted Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi as saying that the move was "unilateral." Azumi has earlier promised strong action to counter the yen as it erased much of the exports gains, hurting firms' profit margins.
The dollar rose to Y79.50 versus the yen, but promptly eased back to Y77.90.
The buck improved to $1.3990 versus the euro, up from a seven-week low of $1.4246.
The euro area debt crisis is not over, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
In an interview published on Sunday, he said Europe's governments failed to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact despite the fact that the ECB was emphatic in warning them of the importance of complying with the conditions.
Eurozone annual inflation remained stable at a 35-month high in October, flash estimate from the Eurostat showed Monday.
Annual inflation stayed at 3 percent, while economists' were expecting it to fall to 2.9 percent.
There was little movement versus Canada's loonie, with the dollar holding just below parity after big losses last week.
The results of the Institute of Supply Management-Chicago's business survey for September are scheduled to be released at 9:45 am ET. Economists expect the business barometer index based on the survey to ease to 58 after it rose by 3.4 points to 60.4 in September.
Later this week, the spotlight is likely to be on the 2-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting commencing on Tuesday and the ensuing quarterly press conference hosted by Chairman Ben Bernanke.
