Forex - Dollar regains strength as market looks past jobs data

Published 09/09/2012, 10:02 PM
Updated 09/09/2012, 10:04 PM
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Investing.com - The dollar rose against major global currencies early Monday after bottom fishers snapped up nicely priced greenback positions.

The dollar tanked on Friday when the U.S. government reported the economy added far less jobs than expected in August.
 
In Asian trading on Monday, EUR/USD was down 0.18% at 1.2792.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the U.S. economy created a net 96,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, well below market calls for 125,000 jobs.

The jobs report quickly fueled already growing sentiment that the Federal Reserve will roll out a third round of quantitative easing, possibly at its Sept. 12-13 monetary policy meeting.

Under quantitative easing, the Fed buys assets such as Treasury holdings or mortgage-backed securities held by banks, pumping the economy full of fresh liquidity in a way that pushes down interest rates to encourage investing and hiring.

Such accommodative policies tend to weaken the dollar by design.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics added that July's figures were revised down to 141,000 from 163,000, while June's figures were cut to 45,000 from 64,000, further stoking market calls for Fed intervention.

The unemployment rate stood at 8.1% in August, down from 8.3% in July as more jobless workers exited the labor force.

The dollar rebounded early on Monday as many investors bought on sentiment the greenback had fallen too far, as expectations for Fed easing even this week weren't all that new.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due to meet with European and multilateral lending agencies, known collectively as the Troika, later on Monday, which kept investors on edge and snapping up safe-haven positions in the greenback.

Samaras recently announced more austerity measures, including further spending cuts to comply with terms attached to bailout payments, though resistance to such measures in the past has erupted into outright anger in the streets of Athens and weakened the single currency against safe-haven currencies such as the yen and U.S. dollar.

Elsewhere, Japan reported earlier that its gross domestic product rose less than expected in the second quarter.

The country's Cabinet Office said that the country's GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, from 0.3% in the preceding quarter.

Analysts had expected Japan’s GDP to rise 0.3% in the previous quarter.

The weaker Japanese growth data sparked talk that monetary authorities may roll out more monetary stimulus down the road.

The greenback, meanwhile, was up against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.03% at 1.6004.

The dollar was down slightly against the yen, with USD/JPY trading down 0.01% at 78.25, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading up 0.17% at 0.9458.

The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading flat at 0.9786, AUD/USD down 0.15% at 1.0399 and NZD/USD down 0.14% at 0.8111.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.12% at 80.45.

Markets will keep all eyes peeled on the Federal Reserve this week on expectations the U.S. central bank will announce plans to stimulated the U.S. economy.









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