Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was up against most of its global counterparts on Monday, as Friday’s weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report and official Chinese data showing inflation accelerating at a faster pace than expected pressured appetite for riskier assets.
Trading volumes were expected to be thin during the European session as markets in the U.K. and the euro zone remained closed due to the Easter holiday.
The U.S. Department of Labor said Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by a meager 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.
Meanwhile, official data released earlier showed that consumer price inflation in China accelerated by 3.6% in March, up from 3.2% in February and above expectations for a 3.3% increase.
The higher-than-expected reading dampened expectations Beijing will introduce fresh monetary easing measures to prop up the world’s second largest economy.
During European morning trade, the dollar was up against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.14% to hit 1.3077.
The greenback was largely unchanged against the pound, with GBP/USD easing down 0.03% to hit 1.5867.
Meanwhile, the dollar was lower against the yen but inched higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slumping 0.4% to hit 81.32 and USD/CHF adding 0.23% to hit 0.9189.
Government data showed earlier that Japan’s current account balance swung to a surplus of JPY1.18 trillion in February. That was after swinging to a record deficit of JPY437.3 billion in January.
Elsewhere, the greenback was broadly higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD gaining 0.11% to hit 0.9983, AUD/USD dropping 0.17% to hit 1.0286 and NZD/USD falling 0.19% to hit 0.8179.
With markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong closed for holidays, trading volumes were thin during the Asian session.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was fractionally higher, easing up 0.03% to hit 80.31.
Forexpros
