Manufacturing survey hurts USD

The US dollar was hurt Monday by new data from the Institute for Supply Management which showed that manufacturing activity contracted in the US in February.

The ISM’s manufacturing index dropping to 48.3 in February after being at 50.7 in January, where any reading below 50 indicates contraction rather than growth.

The dollar touched another record low versus the euro on fears that there will be more losses for banks due to US economic declines.

After going as low as $1.5275 to the euro, the dollar traded at $1.5173 to the euro in late morning trade in New York.

The dollar also weakened in relation to the yen, falling as low as ¥102.62 before trading at ¥103.7000 at around 11:30 a.m. in New York as equities markets declined and investors backed away from risky investments.

Other Asian currencies, however, declined against the greenback on worries that the slowing US economy will hurt demand for products from Asia.

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