Dollar slips against major currencies
The greenback eases slightly after hitting six-month high vs. euro, nearly 2-year high against British pound.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The dollar slipped against major currencies Monday in a slow trading day as investors paused after the greenback's big rally last week.
The dollar, which surged Friday to a six-month high against the euro and a nearly two-year high against the British pound, pulled back slightly Monday. However, analysts said that the slight dip was only a brief pause in an upward trend for the dollar.
"This has been a pretty big run" for the greenback in recent weeks, said Tom Benfer, Director of foreign exchange at the Bank of Montreal. The weakening in the dollar on Monday "is very very slight - I would consider it a pause in the dollar strengthening overall."
Early Monday, the 15-nation euro bought $1.4705, up from $1.4678 late on Friday. The greenback also fell against the yen, buying ¥110.14, versus ¥110.54 the previous session.
The dollar was little changed against sterling. The British pound, bought $1.8654, versus $1.8665 late Friday.
While the dollar is off slightly, "it is a marginal weakness" when compared to its recent strength, said Gareth Sylvester, senior currency strategist at HIFX in San Francisco.
The U.S. economy has been more constant than the British economy and the euro zone economy recently. But economic data were mixed Friday and there was no major news to move currency prices Monday.
"Overall you need to look at what the dollar has been doing in the past two or three weeks," said Sylvester.
"The focus is shifting to the UK and the euro zone. The problem they both have is sharp contractions in growth with higher inflation," he said.
Another analyst echoed the same sentiment that the U.S. economy is holding steady, while the economies of the U.K. and the euro zone are showing weakness. "Those two economies are now feeling the brunt of this overall credit crunch," said Benfer.
Meanwhile, some economic indicators released in recent weeks in the U.S. have been better than expected, said Benfer. "That is taking away some of the negative feel for the US economy."
Oil prices have fallen off sharply in the past month. In mid-July, oil futures hit a record high of $147.27 a barrel, but on Monday, oil prices settled down 90 cents to $112.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange to the lowest level in more than 3-1/2 months.
"Oil price and the dollar are very closely connected over the past 6 months or a year," said Benfer. "As oil has been going down, the dollar has been strengthening."
However, while oil prices dipped on Monday, the drop of less than a buck was not enough to move the currency markets, according to Sylvester. 
