Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with words major+trading. 3 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar was mixed Monday, gaining on the euro but slipping against the yen and British pound sterling on the last trading day of the year. "The U.S. dollar continues to trade with a soft tone on the last day of 2007 in keeping with the past year's trend," wrote currency analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 76.210, up from 76.190 in late U.S. trading Friday. The dollar was buying 111.53 yen, down from 112.55 yen late Friday. The euro was trading at $1.4677, down from $1.4715 Friday and the pound was at $2.0027, up from $1.9932 Friday.

The dollar remained under pressure against its major trading partners following weak housing data on Friday which which added to investors' fears that the American economy may sink into recession

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The Financial Services Authority is probing a jump in the share price of U.K. waste services group Biffa ahead of an announcement in November that it had received a 1.2 billion pound ($2.4 billion) takeover bid, according to a report in the Times (of London) newspaper. The report said the FSA has written to various parties involved in the talks to ask what they knew about any possible bid before buyout groups HgCapital and Montagu Private Equity revealed their offer. The inquiry is a part of a continuing focus at the regulator on insider trading ahead of major announcements, the newspaper added.