Dollar stays down after ISM tops expectations

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar remained down slightly versus major rivals on Monday after the Institute for Supply Management said its index of the services industry rose to 50.9 in September, the highest since May 2008. The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 76.69, -0.30, -0.39%) , a measure of the U.S. currency against a trade-weighted basket of rivals, fell to 76.868 from 77.09 in late trading on Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected the index would rise from 48.4 last month to the 50 level, the dividing line between expansion and contraction in the industry. The dollar was losing ground in earlier trading after finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations made no specific mention of the currency in a joint communique at their weekend meeting.

Source: marketwatch.com