New York, Aug 18 (IANS): The US dollar weakened in late trading on Monday as market participants pored through some gloomy data.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.25 percent to 92.8591.

In late New York trading, the euro was up to $1.1864 from $1.1837 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to $1.3101 from $1.3090 in the previous session. The Australian dollar was up to $0.7207 from $0.7173, Xinhua reported.

The US dollar bought 106.03 Japanese yen, lower than 106.55 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 0.9063 Swiss franc from 0.9093 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3196 Canadian dollars from 1.3256 Canadian dollars.

The Empire State manufacturing index, a key metric to gauge business activity growth in New York State, fell to 3.7 in August from 17.2 in July, signalling a slower pace of growth, the New York Federal Reserve said Monday. Economists had expected a reading of 17, according to a survey by Econoday.