Investing.com - The euro pushed higher against the dollar on Monday as Friday’s U.S. payrolls numbers continued to weigh on the greenback, while comments by European Central Bank officials eased concerns over the prospect of quantitative easing.
EUR/USD touched session highs of 1.3738 and was last up 0.19% to 1.3728, recovering from the five-week trough of 1.3671 struck on Friday.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3671 and resistance at 1.3730, Friday’s high.
The dollar remained under pressure after the Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in March, below expectations for jobs growth of 200,000. The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7%, compared to expectations for a downtick to 6.6%.
The data disappointed some market expectations for a more robust reading but indicated that the Federal Reserve is likely to stick to the current pace of reductions to its asset purchase program.
The euro received a boost after ECB policymaker Yves Mersch said Monday that while the central bank was working on plans for large-scale asset purchases to drive up inflation, this program is not required yet.
Separately, Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said that monetary policy cannot solve the financial crisis, and urged euro zone political leaders to to keep reforming their economies.
The euro edged higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY edging up 0.10% to 141.66.