1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar declines on soft data

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies Monday as the economic data from the country came out weaker than expected.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Monday that personal income increased 23.7 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.2 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) climbed 23.7 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.2 percent, in February.

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 11.0 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.1 percent, which is below market consensus. Meanwhile, PCE rose 0.1 percent in January, based on revised estimates, compared to an initial gain of 0.5 percent.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.38 percent at 95.907 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1206 U.s. dollars from 1.1179 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4260 U.S. dollars from 1.4165 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7544 dollar from 0.7533 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 113.28 Japanese yen, higher than 112.81 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.9736 Swiss franc from 0.9757 Swiss franc and inched down to 1.3173 Canadian dollars from 1.3238 Canadian dollars. Endit