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The dollar index hovered around the 90 mark,
down 0.2% on the day and close to a three-month low of 89.646
hit on Friday.
The greenback, seen as a safe-haven trade, has steadily
retreated over the past two months as optimism has built about
the economic outlook.
European stocks opened up on Monday, closing in on record highs,
although several markets, including Germany's, were closed for a
holiday.
Currency analysts were already looking ahead to key U.S.
personal consumption and inflation figures due Friday for any
warning signs that U.S. inflation could be gathering pace and
putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to taper policy.
Traders are also watching for progress on a new stimulus package
in the United States, after the White House pared down its
infrastructure bill to $1.7 trillion on Friday but failed to
gain Senate Republican backing.
Among the currencies gaining on the dollar was the euro, up a
quarter of a percent above $1.22. The single currency has gained
around 4% on the greenback over the past three months.
"Although the U.S. led in economic reopenings in the first
quarter, Europe is catching up and has further room for
improvement, supporting the euro," said Jun Arachi, currency
strategist at Rakuten Securities.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rebounded by 6% to just shy of
$37,000, but is still well down after crashing in recent days,
falling as much as 17% to $31,107 on Sunday.
Bitcoin halved in value just weeks after April's record peak of
$64,895, undermining the case for its mainstream acceptance.
Cryptocurrencies have tumbled after Elon Musk's Tesla said it
will stop accepting bitcoin for car purchases and after China
further clamped down on them.
(Reporting by Iain Withers, Additional reporting by Hideyuki
Sano in Tokyo; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Bernadette Baum)
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