U.S. dollar recoups some recent losses
By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar edged higher in Asia’s afternoon trading Monday, poised to recoup at least some of the hefty losses it suffered Friday against its currency rivals on the heels of disappointing U.S. employment data.
The dollar index (DXY 79.87, +0.50, +0.63%) , which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, climbed to 79.530 from 79.377 late in North American trading Friday after the jobs report. See Friday’s currencies story.
The euro (EURUSD 1.3264, -0.0115, -0.8595%) weakened against the dollar, falling to $1.3345 versus $1.3411 late Friday, while the greenback (USDYEN 82.8400, +0.2200, +0.2663%) bought 82.90 yen, up from ¥82.53 Friday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in November from 9.6% in October, defying expectations for an unchanged reading. Read more about the jobs report.
“The weak nonfarm payrolls data on Friday were a not so gentle reminder that while the EUR has its fair share of problems with the peripheral eurozone sovereign debt, anemic growth and the [Federal Open Market Committee’s second round of quantitative easing] are significant negatives for the USD,” said David Forrester, a foreign exchange strategist at Barclays Capital said in a note to clients.
And indeed, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday on “60 Minutes” that the Fed could commit more money beyond the $600 billion in asset purchases announced last month to provide a further boost to the economy. Read more about Bernanke’s comments.
Myra P. Saefong is MarketWatch's assistant global markets editor, based in Tokyo.
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