Forexpros –
Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its global counterparts in thin trade Monday, as currency markets consdidered the impact of Friday’s weak U.S. data on this light holiday trading day.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, withEUR/USD losing 0.22% to hit 1.3067.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 in March, the lowest since December and well below expectations for a 203,000 increase.
It was the first time since November that hiring failed to top the 200,000 level, renewing concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.2%, the lowest since January 2009, from 8.3% in February. However, the data showed that the decline stemmed entirely from people dropping out of the labor force.
The unexpected weak data cast doubts over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery and revived expectations that the Federal Reserve may conduct a third round of monetary easing to bolster growth.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the euro remained weak after a poorly received auction of Spanish government debt last week saw the country’s borrowing costs rise, sparking fears that the country may be the next in the euro zone to require a bailout.
The greenback was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.01% to hit 1.5869.
The greenback slid to a one-month low against the yen but pushed higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.34% to hit 81.36 and USD/CHF climbing 0.28% to hit 0.9193.
The yen found support after official data showed that Japan posted a larger-than-expected current account surplus of JPY1.17 trillion in February, coming after a record deficit of JPY437.3 billion the previous month sparked concerns over an economic slowdown.
Elsewhere, the greenback was modestly higher against its Canadian counterpart but slipped against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD rising 0.15% to hit 0.9985, AUD/USD inching up 0.09% to hit 1.0312 and NZD/USD adding 0.34% to hit 0.8222.
The growth linked Australian and New Zealand dollars found some support after official data showed that Chinese consumer price inflation rose by 3.6% last month, up from 3.2% in February and above expectations for a 3.3% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.23% to hit 79.91.
Trading volumes were expected to stay light on Monday, with markets in the U.K. and the euro zone closed for the Easter holidays.
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