Dollar Slips Against Yen, Rises Against Euro

Tokyo - The dollar stuck to narrow ranges against major counterparts in Asian trading Monday, losing ground to the yen but edging higher against the euro, as investors squared positions ahead of this week's Group of Eight meeting.

The dollar was buying 95.25 yen, down from 95.91 yen in late European trade on Friday. U.S. markets were closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.

The euro traded at $1.3950, down from $1.3997 late Friday.

The dollar index (DXY), a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded at 80.420, down from 80.519 late Friday.

A senior official in the Indian government has joined the growing chorus questioning the U.S. dollar's unofficial position as global reserve currency, according a weekend report.

Suresh Tendulkar, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, said he's urging India to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves and hold fewer dollars, Bloomberg News reported Saturday.

The rhetoric towards the dollar's international status comes as leaders of the world's leading economies ready to meet in Italy for the G8 Summit 2009, which will be held from July 8 to July 10. The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, U.K. and U.S. will gather in L'Aquila, and discussions of ways to improve international finance are on the agenda.

Representatives from China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Egypt will also be present at the meeting.

"The drumbeat of dollar doubts continues ahead of this week's G8 meeting in Italy," wrote currency analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman.