WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned in a mixed performance against its major rivals on Monday.
The dollar gained against the Loonie and the Aussie, while losing some ground against the Yen and Swiss franc as traders tracked crude oil prices, geopolitical news and Chinese economic data.
China's industrial production growth slowed to 6.4% in July from 8.3% a month ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed Monday. Output was expected to gain 7.8%.
Retail sales grew at a slower pace of 8.5% on a yearly basis, following a 12.1% rise in June. This was also weaker than the economists' forecast of 11.5%.
New York manufacturing activity saw significantly slower growth in the month of August, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.
The New York Fed said its general business conditions index plunged to 18.3 in August from 43.0 in July. While a positive reading still indicates growth, economists had expected the index to show a much more modest drop to 30.0.
Investors await minutes from the Fed's latest meeting to assess whether a tapering announcement is edging closer.
Fed chair Jerome Powell will speak at a town hall event on Tuesday, which could offer more signals about the possible timeline for the tapering of the QE program.
The dollar index advanced to 92.63, gaining about 0.12% from Friday's close.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to $1.1778 from $1.1797.
The Pound Sterling weakened to $1.3839, down nearly 0.2% from Friday's close of $1.3866.
The dollar fetched 109.26 yen in late afternoon trades, about 0.33% less than Friday's level of 109.61 yen. Data from the Cabinet Office showed that Japan's gross domestic product expanded an annualized 1.3% on year in the second quarter of 2021.
That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.7% following the 3.9% contraction in the first quarter.
Against the Aussie, the dollar was little changed at 0.7337.
The Swiss franc gained marginally against the dollar at 0.9120, while the Loonie was little changed at 1.2576 a dollar. Data released by Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in Canada rose 2.1% from a month earlier to C$ 59.2 billion in June, following two consecutive monthly declines.
Wholesale sales in the country dropped by 0.8% to C$ 71.5 billion in June from a month earlier. Year-on-year, wholesale sales advanced 14.7% in June.
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