By Tali Arbel, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The dollar tumbled broadly Monday, dropping to its lowest points since last fall against the euro, pound and other currencies, as signs of recovery emerged from data on manufacturing from around the world.

Stocks jumped in Europe and the U.S. Bad signals from economic reports and poor earnings tend to help the dollar as investors seek safety, often in U.S. government debt; good news and stronger equities often correspond with a drop in the greenback's value and a surge in equities, emerging-market currencies and other "riskier" investments.

"The enhanced prospects for growth has cast a pall over the U.S. dollar," said Brown Brothers Harriman currency analysts.

The 16-nation euro soared to $1.4403 from $1.4250 late Friday, peaking at $1.4445, the highest point for the common currency since last September. The British pound, rocketed up to $1.6941 from $1.6686, hitting its highest level since last October at $1.6986.

The dollar rose to 95.25 Japanese yen, meanwhile, from 94.79 late Friday. The yen is also considered a "safe haven" currency.

On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management trade group said its manufacturing index rose to an 11-month high of 48.9. Readings above 50 signal growth. That mirrors improvements in the manufacturing sector in China, Britain and the euro zone.

A survey of China's manufacturing sector hit a 12-month high of 52.8, while a British survey said the country's industrial sector was growing again. A euro zone survey was revised to an 11-month high.

The U.S. government also said construction spending rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in June — another sign of recovery in the beleaguered housing sector.

That builds on the vast improvement in gross domestic product declines seen last week. The Commerce Department said then that GDP fell 1% in the second quarter, compared with a 6.4% decline in the first quarter and a 5.4% decline in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Stock indexes in Britain, France and Germany closed up 1.5% or higher, while only Japanese shares slipped of the major Asian equities benchmarks.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up nearly 1%, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 1.2% in midday trading.

The New Zealand and Australian dollars, which are strongly correlated with commodities prices, hit 10- and 11-month highs against the dollar as the price of oil, agricultural products and precious metals rose. Emerging-market currencies such as the Brazilian real, Mexican peso, Turkish lira and South Korean won were also higher against the dollar.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of currencies that includes the yen and euro, slid to its lowest point this year.

The dollar also hit its lowest point since October against the Canadian dollar, another currency tightly correlated with commodity prices, and a bottom for the year versus the Swiss franc.

In midday New York trading, the dollar fell to 1.0661 Canadian dollars from 1.0789 late Friday, and dropped to 1.0581 Swiss francs from 1.0689 francs.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.  All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

— For more ways to save, spend, invest and borrow, visit MainStreet.com.