The U.S. dollar softened on Monday as signs the federal government could soon reopen buoyed investor confidence after a string of weak economic data. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback's strength against a basket of six major currencies, slid 0.1% to 99.643 after the Senate voted to advance a measure that could fund the U.S. government through January.

"This is just in the nick of time," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney. "The retreat we saw in the U.S. dollar into the end of last week probably continues now." On Friday, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index weakened to its lowest level in nearly 3-1/2 years in early November, close to its all-time nadir, as the government shutdown stretched into the longest in history.

"The consumer confidence

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