The dollar fell today to pare some of last week's gains as traders took profits in the wait for a US trade report due on Wednesday.
On Friday, investors focused on US Treasury Secretary Mr Snow's comments, made in a series of television and radio interviews, that the United States wanted to "do things," including cutting its deficit, to support the dollar's strength.
This raised talk that President George W. Bush could introduce substantial cuts in the 2006 budget deficit and diminish a key negative for the long-suffering US currency, which hit seven-week highs against the euro, Swiss franc and British pound on Friday.
The euro dropped some six cents against the dollar last week. But by early New York trade today, the momentum of Friday's dollar rally in the wake of the US jobs report, driven partly by technical factors and by Mr Snow's remarks, had ebbed, analysts said.
Early in New York, the euro rose to around $1.3104, up about 0.4 per cent from levels late the prior session in New York.
The next major data focus for the US currency is likely to be the U.S. trade balance, due on Wednesday. Economists' median forecast is for a deficit of $54 billion in November, just below the record $55.46 billion shortfall recorded in October.
The US trade and budget deficits have been among the key factors behind the dollar's three-year decline. Many economists believe the dollar still has further to fall to correct these imbalances.
As the prospect the Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates has started to play slightly in the dollar's favor of late, currency traders are listening closely to remarks by Fed officials.
Higher rates on short-dated dollar-denominated deposits tends to burnish the attraction of these assets to foreign investors.