The 16-nation euro inched up to $1.4776 in late New York trading from the $1.4709 it bought late Friday. That's slightly below a 12-month high of $1.4803.

The British pound fell to $1.5786 from $1.5835, while the dollar was unchanged at 89.84 Japanese yen.

Trading was light as much of the country observed the Columbus Day holiday. No major economic reports were due and government bond markets were closed.

Global investors are examining companies' third-quarter earnings announcements and forecasts for the months ahead for signs that the economy is on a sounder footing.

After U.S aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. kicked earnings season off last week with results that topped expectations, major banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. will be releasing their reports this week, as will Google Inc. and General Electric Co.

At banks, investors are hoping to see signs that consumer loan defaults, including mortgages, are starting to level off, and will be looking for any potential trouble with commercial real estate loans. Overall, the market wants to see evidence that an economic recovery is under way.

Good economic news has tended to weigh on the dollar recently, prompting investors to leave the traditional safe haven of the U.S. currency for riskier assets.

For the euro, "the path through $1.50 remains intact, with $1.4765 and this year's high at $1.4846 as the intermediate targets," analysts at UniCredit in Milan wrote in a research note.

In other late trading Monday, the dollar fell to 1.0357 Canadian dollars from 1.0441 late Friday, and slid to 1.0271 Swiss francs from 1.0322 francs.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.