The dollar fell against most major currencies yesterday after a report showed US non-manufacturing sector contracted in October.

The dollar rose briefly after Barack Obama won the US presidential election late Tuesday. It fell back after the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported yesterday that business activity index of US non-manufacturing sector fell to 44.4 from 50.2 in September. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

The greenback was also hit by a report from research group Automatic Data Processing (ADP). Employers in US private sector slashed 157,000 jobs in October, according to ADP. Analysts said it signaled non-farm payroll data to be released by the Labor Department tomorrow would be weak.

Rising of the euro and the pound were limited as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are expected to cut their interest rates today. Weak data from Europe added to the view that the central banks would cut rate to stimulate struggling economies soon.

The euro bought US$1.2992 in late New York trading compared with US$1.2954 it bought late Tuesday. The pound rose to US$1.5960 from US$1.5933.

The dollar fell to 1.1606 Swiss francs from 1.1645 Swiss francs, and fell to 98.95 Japanese yen from 99.69 Japanese yen. It rose to1.1628 Canadian dollars from 1.1522 Canadian dollars.