“Dollar and yen were largely firmer in thin U.S. holiday trading, as risk aversion crept back up,” wrote currency analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman. “Optimism on China’s stimulus plan gave way to a more sober global economic outlook.”

News trickling in from elsewhere wasn’t particularly heartening. Across the pond, the British Retail Consortium’s monthly barometer reported sales that fell 2.2% on a same-store basis in October, as compared with the same month of 2007. That marked the first drop in total sales since April 2005.

And across the bigger pond, China reported that exports grew 19.2% in October from a year earlier. Doesn’t sound bad, but it was taken as a negative, since that was down from a 21.5% increase in September.

Inflation in China is also easing. The country’s consumer price index rose 4% in October, year over year, decelerating from a 4.6% rise in September. Inflation is down from its high of 8.7% in February, a sign of the slowing economy there.

Source: Dollar whacks euro -  China stats show slowing economy