The dollar weakened early in New York trade Wednesday, extending overnight losses against the yen in particular, on signs of continued weakness in U.S. business spending. The U.S. currency also suffered from continued global concerns about the tense political situation with Iran, while the yen continued to benefit from the last-minute repatriation of profits before Japan's fiscal year-end. Global markets in general were hit by a bout of diminished appetite for risk overnight as tensions mounted over Iran's holding of U.K. sailors and the U.S. held naval exercises in the Persian Gulf. Amid the market's jitters, oil prices jumped about $4 to $68 a barrel, though they have since fallen back to $64 a barrel. The durable goods report for February further added to the dollar's woes. The report missed expectations - orders were up 2.5% compared with an expected 3.5% and showed a 1.2% decline in a key barometer of business spending, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft. "This is horrible: After the huge 7.4% plunge in core capital goods orders in January, we fully expected a decent rebound, but they fell" instead, said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High-Frequency Economics.