Dollar broadly lower despite upbeat U.S. data; U.S. stocks steeply down at open

On Monday the dollar remained lower against its major rivals despite fresh positive numbers from the U.S.

Orders for durable U.S. goods rose 3.4% in June, mostly because of strong bookings for passenger airplanes. However, overall business investment remained soft and shipments of goods barely rose, the government said Monday.

Orders minus transportation rose 0.8% - the highest gain since August 2014, but not a strong advance. Orders for core capital goods - a reflection of business investment - rose a mild 0.9% in June following two straight declines. Still, core orders are running 3.4% below 2014 levels halfway through the year.

Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to help define quarterly economic growth, slid 0.1% last and month and have declined in the first two months of the second quarter.

The U.S. dollar index was down 0.80% at 96.57, the lowest level since July 14.

EUR/USD surged 1.05% to multi-week highs of 1.1098.

GBP/USD last traded at 1.5581, lower 0.39%.

Earlier in Europe, the Ifo research institute said its business climate index climbed to 108.0 from a reading of 107.5 in June, beating expectations of 107.2.

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks opened lower following an 8.5% drop in China’s stock market.

The S&P 500 opened 14 points, or 0.7%, lower at 2065.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 51 points, or 1%, to 5,036.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the day down 146 points, or 0.8%, to 17,420.