Any sign that the US government does not back Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pillars of the US mortgage market with debt widely held by foreign investors, could place the already weak dollar under further pressure.

The dollar slid last week as the euro rose to a three-month high of $1.5946 to sit less than a cent below its record peak of $1.6018, set in April. Analysts blamed some of the dollar’s fall on the drop in Fannie and Freddie’s share prices amid further distress in the US financial sector.