Dollar falls against most major currencies

Lowe's Cos. Inc, the second largest U.S. home improvement retailer, reported on Monday that its quarterly profit fell 22 percent from a year earlier, but far better than expected. The report showed some strength in home improvement market, which has close links to housing market and consumer spending. Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes improved for a second consecutive month in May to the highest level since September of 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The index rose 2 points from April to 16, reflecting stronger buying activities driven by good terms of mortgage rates, affordable prices and tax credit from the government. Wall Street jumped nearly 3 percent on Monday as investors cheered the above reports. Rising risk appetite in foreign exchange trading sent the dollar lower against most major currencies. But the greenback rose against the yen after Japan's Vice Finance Minister Kazuyuki Sugimoto said Japan would continue to monitor currency markets. The euro bought 1.3534 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3476 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound rose to 1.5320 dollars from 1.5160 dollars, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.