Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar rose to a daily high against the yen on Monday, after Friday’s strong U.S. jobs report and as risk appetite improved, boosted by strong gains in Asian equities markets.
USD/JPY hit 82.47 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 82.33, gaining 0.19%.
The pair was likely to find support at 81.4, last Thursday’s low and resistance at 82.91, the high of January 28.
Data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added significantly fewer than expected jobs in January, but the unemployment rate posted an unexpected drop.
The Department of Labor said that 36,000 jobs were added, far less than the 150,000 forecast and the smallest gain in four months. However, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell from 9.4% to 9%, the lowest level in two years.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks pushed towards a near three-year high on Monday, boosted by the strong U.S. data. South Korea and Japan led gains, with the former ending up below a record high and the latter closing at a nine-month peak.
The yen was also down against the euro, with EUR/JPY rising 0.27% to hit 111.9.
Later in the day, the Bank of Japan was to publish a report on lending and M2 money stock while the government was to publish data on the country’s current account. Elsewhere, the U.S. was to release a government report on consumer credit.
ForexPros.com
