TOKYO- The dollar held near a one-week low versus major peers on Monday, after slumping the most in almost seven weeks on Friday as diving US consumer confidence hurt bets for an early tightening of Federal Reserve policy.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rivals, was little changed at 92.528, maintaining a 0.50 percent tumble from the end of last week.
It dipped as far as 109.455 yen for the first time since Aug. 5 on Monday, before trading 0.13 percent weaker at 109.465.
Against the euro, it was mostly flat at $1.17960, close to the one-week low of $1.18045 reached Friday.
A University of Michigan survey released at the end of last week showed consumer sentiment sliding to the lowest level since 2011 amid an acceleration in COVID-19 infections caused by the fast-spreading Delta variant.
US retail sales data due Tuesday will be closely watched for further clues on consumer behavior.
“Does the survey signal an imminent turn in the US economy? We doubt it given vaccine efficacy remains high and the hit to sentiment likely means more people will get vaccinated,” Tapas Strickland, an analyst at National Australia Bank, wrote in a client note.
“Instead, the Delta surge in the US is more a case of delay rather than derail as far as the recovery is concerned.”
The dollar has oscillated with the flow of economic data, with momentum from a jobs market recovery pushing it to a four-month peak on Wednesday, only to see it knocked back by cooling inflation pressures.
