U.S. dollar declines on downbeat data

The U.S. dollar decreased against most major currencies on Monday as recent economic data from the country came out overall negative.

With no major data coming out on Monday, investors were still digesting several U.S. economic reports from last week.

The Federal Reserve announced on Friday that U.S. industrial production dropped 0.6 percent in March for a second month in a row, below market consensus of a decrease of 0.1 percent.

The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increase 0.1 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent in March after rising 0.3 percent in February, lower than market consensus.

Analysts said the recent downbeat economic data may keep the Federal Reserve cautious in raising interest rates.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.22 percent at 94.490 on Monday in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1314 dollars from 1.1285 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4285 dollars from 1.4209 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7745 dollars from 0.7718 dollars.

The dollar bought 108.84 Japanese yen, higher than 108.71 yen of the previous session. The dollar fell to 0.9644 Swiss francs from 0.9677 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.2809 Canadian dollars from 1.2839 Canadian dollars. Endit