Dollar index drops to fresh low after DJ report

Traders and clerks in the Euro Dollar pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, March 28, 2006. The dollar slid to a fresh record low against the euro and a basket of currencies on Friday, pressured by the growing view that a slowdown in the U.S. economy will force another cut in interest rates this month.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell a record low against a basket of major currencies on Friday after Dow Jones reported that a draft communique from the Group of Seven meeting this afternoon failed to mention the euro, yen, and the greenback.

There had been some speculation earlier that the G7 statement late on Friday could address the dollar's weakness and other currency imbalances. But the omission of any such reference from the draft statement suggested that the dollar's weak trend will continue, analysts said.

"It's not very surprising since no one was really expecting a big change," said a dealer at a New York bank.

Contrary to some expectations, the draft statement instead focused on the tightly-controlled Chinese yuan, as G7 officials urged for a faster rise in the currency. It also repeated past statements, which called for currencies to reflect economic fundamentals.

The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's value against a basket of major currencies, fell to yet another record low at 77.396 .DXY, down 0.2 percent on the day. The dollar also dropped to 114.68 yen, still the lowest in three weeks after the Dow Jones story. It last traded at 114.72 yen, still down 0.6 percent on the day.

(Additional reporting by Kevin Plumberg. Editing by Richard Satran))