Investing.com - The dollar was sharply lower against the yen on Monday and remained close to recent lows against the other main currencies as weak U.S. jobs data saw investors push back expectations on the timing for a possible reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus.
During European late morning trade, the dollar dropped against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.86% to 97.29.
The Department of Labor said Tuesday the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000, indicating that jobs growth had slowed even before the start of the recent 16-day government shutdown.
The unemployment rate ticked down to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.2% from 7.3% in August, but this was partially due to more people dropping out of the labor force.
Elsewhere, the euro eased back from 23-month highs against the dollar as traders locked in profits following Tuesday’s sharp gains, with EUR/USD slipping 0.20% to 1.3753.
The dollar also pushed higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.58% to 1.6142.
Earlier Wednesday, the minutes of the Bank of England’s October meeting said the U.K. unemployment rate appears to be falling at a faster than expected rate as the "robust" recovery gains traction.
The bank also estimated that growth in the second half of the year would remain around 0.7% a quarter or a little higher, stronger than expected at the time of the August inflation report.
The dollar was little changed at 20-month lows against the traditional safe haven Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.04% to 0.8951.
The greenback was sharply higher against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with AUD/USD dropping 0.88% to 0.9624 and NZD/USD tumbling 1.60% to 0.8378. The greenback also gained ground against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD advancing 0.29% to 1.0318.
Sentiment on the Australian and New Zealand dollars was hit by news that China's largest banks tripled the number of bad loan write-offs in the first half of the year, fuelling concerns over the outlook for the banking sector.
In Australia, data released on Wednesday showed that consumer price inflation rose 1.2% in the third quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.8% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.11% to 79.38.
Investors were looking ahead to the Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement later Wednesday.
During European late morning trade, the dollar dropped against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.86% to 97.29.
The Department of Labor said Tuesday the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000, indicating that jobs growth had slowed even before the start of the recent 16-day government shutdown.
The unemployment rate ticked down to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.2% from 7.3% in August, but this was partially due to more people dropping out of the labor force.
Elsewhere, the euro eased back from 23-month highs against the dollar as traders locked in profits following Tuesday’s sharp gains, with EUR/USD slipping 0.20% to 1.3753.
The dollar also pushed higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.58% to 1.6142.
Earlier Wednesday, the minutes of the Bank of England’s October meeting said the U.K. unemployment rate appears to be falling at a faster than expected rate as the "robust" recovery gains traction.
The bank also estimated that growth in the second half of the year would remain around 0.7% a quarter or a little higher, stronger than expected at the time of the August inflation report.
The dollar was little changed at 20-month lows against the traditional safe haven Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.04% to 0.8951.
The greenback was sharply higher against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with AUD/USD dropping 0.88% to 0.9624 and NZD/USD tumbling 1.60% to 0.8378. The greenback also gained ground against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD advancing 0.29% to 1.0318.
Sentiment on the Australian and New Zealand dollars was hit by news that China's largest banks tripled the number of bad loan write-offs in the first half of the year, fuelling concerns over the outlook for the banking sector.
In Australia, data released on Wednesday showed that consumer price inflation rose 1.2% in the third quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.8% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.11% to 79.38.
Investors were looking ahead to the Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement later Wednesday.