Investing.com - The dollar moved higher against the yen on Monday, while the euro remained steady as markets digested Friday’s U.S. jobs report and disappointing trade data from China over the weekend.
USD/JPY hit highs of 107.70 and was last at 107.53, up 0.4% for the day.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, ticked up 0.11% to 93.92, off Friday’s lows of 93.08.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1399.
The dollar initially weakened after data on Friday showing that the U.S. economy added jobs at the slowest rate in seven months in April.
But the report also showed that annual wage growth picked up last month.
The dollar was also supported after New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that it was reasonable to expect two rate hikes this year.
The yen showed little reaction after Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso said Monday that officials remain ready to intervene in the currency market if excessive moves in the yen are enough to affect Japan’s trade or economy.
The dollar fell to 18-month lows of 105.05 against the yen last week and the U.S. added Japan to a list of countries it was monitoring over foreign exchange policies.
Investors remained cautious after data on Sunday showed that China’s exports and imports fell more than forecast in April.
The weak data underlined concerns over slowing domestic and overseas demand affecting the world’s second largest economy.
The Australian dollar was lower in the wake of the report, with AUD/USD falling 0.38% to 0.7340. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
The Aussie had already fallen more than 3% last week after the country’s central bank cut interest rates for the first time in over a year and slashed its inflation forecasts in response to slumping commodity prices.
The Canadian dollar hit three-week lows, with USD/CAD at 1.2943 as a massive wildfire in Alberta clouded the outlook for the economy.