Investing.com - The dollar slumped against most major currencies on Tuesday after a soft September jobs report fueled expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue stimulating the economy with monthly asset purchases well into 2014 as opposed to the end of this year as once anticipated.
In U.S. trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.75% at 1.3782.
The dollar dropped after the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000. The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 193,000 from a previously reported increase of 169,000.
July's figure was revised down to 89,000 from 104,000.
The unemployment rate ticked down to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.2% from 7.3% in August due in part to more people dropping out of the labor force, which also weighed on the greenback.
The jobs report published 18 days behind schedule due to disruptions caused by the recent U.S. government shutdown.
The report kept expectations going strong that the Federal Reserve will continue stimulating the economy to boost job creation by buying bonds each month.
The Fed is currently purchasing USD85 billion in Treasury holdings and mortgage debt a month to boost the economy, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing that drives down interest rates to spur recovery and job creation, weakening the dollar in the process.
Prior to the release of the September jobs report, concerns that the government shutdown and accompanying default fears had may betting that any decision to taper asset purchases would come later rather than sooner, and the weak data supported those sentiments on Tuesday.
Fed officials have said they will pay close attention to economic indicators before deciding on the fate of monetary stimulus programs.
Many investors began pushing back projections for a start date for the Fed to begin tapering asset purchase to 2014, possibly as late as March or even June by some estimates.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.56% at 1.6238.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.07% at 98.10, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.83% at 0.8946.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.17% at 1.0286, AUD/USD up 0.54% at 0.9708 and NZD/USD trading up 0.75% at 0.8518.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.57% at 79.28.
In U.S. trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.75% at 1.3782.
The dollar dropped after the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000. The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 193,000 from a previously reported increase of 169,000.
July's figure was revised down to 89,000 from 104,000.
The unemployment rate ticked down to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.2% from 7.3% in August due in part to more people dropping out of the labor force, which also weighed on the greenback.
The jobs report published 18 days behind schedule due to disruptions caused by the recent U.S. government shutdown.
The report kept expectations going strong that the Federal Reserve will continue stimulating the economy to boost job creation by buying bonds each month.
The Fed is currently purchasing USD85 billion in Treasury holdings and mortgage debt a month to boost the economy, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing that drives down interest rates to spur recovery and job creation, weakening the dollar in the process.
Prior to the release of the September jobs report, concerns that the government shutdown and accompanying default fears had may betting that any decision to taper asset purchases would come later rather than sooner, and the weak data supported those sentiments on Tuesday.
Fed officials have said they will pay close attention to economic indicators before deciding on the fate of monetary stimulus programs.
Many investors began pushing back projections for a start date for the Fed to begin tapering asset purchase to 2014, possibly as late as March or even June by some estimates.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.56% at 1.6238.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.07% at 98.10, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.83% at 0.8946.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.17% at 1.0286, AUD/USD up 0.54% at 0.9708 and NZD/USD trading up 0.75% at 0.8518.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.57% at 79.28.