US dollar falls on downbeat data

The US dollar decreased against most major currencies Monday as economic data from the country came out worse than expected.

New home sales slipped 1.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000 units, the U.S. Commerce Department said Monday. The latest reading was lower than market consensus of 522,000.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.35 percent at 94.785 in late trading.

The Federal Reserve will announce its latest rate decision when it concludes a two-day meeting Wednesday. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged after a mixed bag of economic data and recent volatility in financial markets.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1268 dollars from 1.1227 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.4483 dollars from 1.4411 dollars. The Australian dollar stayed flat at 0.7709 U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 111.26 Japanese yen, lower than 111.71 yen of the previous session. The dollar dropped to 0.9752 Swiss franc from 0.9789 Swiss franc but inched up to 1.2689 Canadian dollars from 1.2685 Canadian dollars.