Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against a basket of other major currencies on Monday, but remained close to multi-year highs as Friday's upbeat U.S. employment data continued to support demand for the greenback.
The dollar strengthened broadly after the Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, far more than the 225,000 forecast by economists and the largest monthly increase in almost three years.
September’s figure was revised up to 243,000 from a previously reported 214,000 and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a six-year low of 5.8%.
The strong data fuelled to expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates mid-2015, compared to expectations for September 2015 before the report.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.15% to 89.25, not far from the session high of 89.56 and highest level since March 2009.
EUR/USD edged up 0.10% but remained near two-year lows at 1.2294 after European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny warned that the euro zone economy is suffering a "massive weakening" and that there is a "high probability" that euro zone inflation would slow further in the coming months.
Earlier Monday, data showed that German industrial production rose just 0.2% in October, while September’s figure was revised down to 1.1% from 1.4% previously. The data fuelled concerns over the outlook for fourth quarter growth.
USD/JPY declined 0.52% to 120.80, off seven-year highs of 121.69 hit earlier in the session.
Revised data on Monday showed that Japan’s gross domestic product contracted by an annualized 1.9%, more than the preliminary estimate of a 1.6% decline.
On a quarter-over-quarter basis the economy contracted by 0.5% in the three months to September, compared to a preliminary estimate of a 0.4% contraction.
The pound remained higher, with GBP/USD up 0.29% to 1.5631, while USD/CHF slipped 0.14% to trade at 0.9777.
In Switzerland, official data earlier showed that retail sales rose at an annualized rate of 0.3% in October, below expectations for an increase of 0.9%.
Another report showed that Swiss consumer price inflation was flat last month, compared to expectations for a 0.1% slip, after a flat reading in October.
The Australian dollar hit four-and-a-half year lows before retracing some losses, with AUD/USD at 0.8308, steady for the day, while NZD/USD dropped 0.64% to 0.7665.
The export-related currencies were affected by data on Monday showing that Chinese exports rose just 4.7% in November from a year earlier, less than the expected 7.9% increase, while imports fell 6.7% on a year-over-year basis.
USD/CAD added 0.24% to 1.1464 after data on Monday showed that the number of new building permits issued in Canada rose just 0.7% in October, trailing forecasts for a gain of 2.1%.
Another report showed that Canadian housing starts rose to 195,600 units in November from October’s total of 183,700 units.