The U.S. dollar slumped in late New York trading on Monday against major counterparts after Germany and France said they were close to a final deal to shore up European banks.

The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six U.S. trading partners, declined 1.5 percent to 77.544.

Euro got a big lift, surging nearly 2 percent to 1.3650 against the U.S. dollar in late New York trading after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Sunday that there was an agreement to strengthen European banks.

Merkel said Germany and France had given themselves three weeks to devise a plan to recapitalize banks and find a "durable" solution for Greece's debt load.

In late Monday trading, the dollar bought 76.69 Japanese yen, comparing with 76.82 from late Friday.

The British pound rose to 1.5673 dollars from 1.5553. The dollar fell from 0.9266 Swiss francs to 0.9035, and also fell to 1.0281 Canadian dollars from 1.0394.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet