* Dollar back below 121.00 yen, euro flirts with $1.1200
* Quiet start with little developments over the weekend
* No major Asian data, Chinese holidays start later in week
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The world's major currencies got off to a slow start on Monday following a relatively uneventful weekend with the dollar showing potential for gains if upcoming data strengthen the case for a hike in interest rates this year.
The dollar rose to its highest in over a month last Friday, but has since been consolidating. The dollar index .DXY last stood at 96.221, off Friday's peak of 96.700.
Against the yen it fetched 120.49 JPY= , having been as high as 121.24. The euro was back near $1.1200 EUR= , recovering from a slide to $1.1116.
Earlier in the month the Federal Reserve delayed a long-anticipated rise in U.S. rates, sparking volatility in global markets. Since then a string of Fed officials, including Janet Yellen herself last Thursday, has assured markets that the bank is still on track to normalise policy this year.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George on Friday said she believes the Fed should act soon so that it will "have the luxury" of being able keep rate hikes gradual. ID:nL1N11V1Q6
"With a further nine Fed speakers scheduled for this week and the all-important non-farm payrolls report also due on Friday night, Fed policy - and its impact on broader markets - will no doubt remain at the forefront of the markets' mind," analysts at ANZ wrote in a note to clients.
The consolidating dollar saw commodity currencies recover some ground. The Australian dollar traded at $0.7021 AUD=D4 , having drifted up from a low of $0.6938.
Trading in Asia is shaping up to be a quiet affair with nothing in the way of market-moving economic data. Traders said appetite for risk is likely to dictated by how Chinese stocks behave. Markets, however, could be choppy with China winding down for the week-long National Day holidays from Oct. 1.
Not helping risk sentiment, the IMF is expected to downgrade its global economic forecasts when it publishes updated figures this week.
There has so far been little reaction to two political events unfolding across the Atlantic. In Europe, a big win for separatists at the weekend election in Catalonia could usher in a more unstable period for Spanish politics. ID:nL5N11X04O
In the United States, the shock resignation of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and his comments on Sunday that Congress will avoid a government shutdown this week potentially remove one source of investor anxiety. ID:nL1N11X0I7