Dollar slumps against yen

The U.S. dollar on Monday advanced against most of major currencies but dipped versus the Japanese yen which rose sharply against its major counterparts as market risk appetite shrank after worldwide disappointing economic data. China's growth of gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year slowed to 7.7 percent year on year from 7.9 percent in the previous quarter, official data showed Monday. The figure was lower than economists' forecast and exerted pressure on global markets. The Australian dollar plunged against the U.S. dollar as China is Australia's largest trading partner. On the U.S. economic front, New York State posted a disappointing manufacturing index. The general business conditions index fell to 3.1 in April from 9.2 in March, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday. The yen rose for a third day versus the dollar after weakening to a four-year low last week as the Bank of Japan launched aggressive monetary easing measures. In late New York trading, the euro declined to 1.3040 dollars from 1.3079 dollars of the previous session and the British pound dropped to 1.5276 dollars from 1.5343 dollars. The Australian dollar fell to 1.0323 dollars from 1.0502 dollars. The dollar bought 97.28 Japanese yen, lower than 98.89 in the previous session. It edged up to 0.9321 Swiss francs from 0.9299 Swiss francs and went up to 1.0245 Canadian dollars from 1.0138 Canadian dollars of the previous trading day.