The greenback took an early dive after data showed the New York Federal Reserve's Empire State manufacturing index plunged to -31.8 this month from a reading of 10.8 in April. "The things that have weighed on the dollar recently have not gone away, such as the debt ceiling, even though there has been some progress made." In late morning trading the dollar index , which measures the greenback's value against six major peers, fell 0.2% to 102.48. Analysts have said many factors could be behind the dollar's recent strength, including concerns about U.S. inflation and safe-haven buying driven by fears about the debt ceiling standoff and global economic growth. It earlier jumped to 19.7 for the first time since March 10, when it hit a record high of 19.8 on a volatile trading day.

---