Investing.com - The euro fell held weaker in Asia on Monday touching a 20-month low as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned after suffering a humiliating defeat in a referendum to reform the country's constitution.
EUR/USD was quoted down 1.03% to 1.0553 as concerns over the health of Italy’s banking system were raised as a constitutional referendum on Sunday saw voters reject a move to limit the power of
the country's upper house.
Elsehwere, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he would resign, making it clear he would not seek a fourth term. NZD/USD drop 0.73% to 0.7089 following the announcement.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.75% to 101.51.
USD/JPY changed hands at 113.60, up 0.07% and AUD/USD traded at 0.7432, down 0.25%.
In Asia, Australia reported business inventories for the third quarter jumped 0.8%, well above the 0.2% gain seen. In China, the Caixin services PMI gained to 53.1, a 16-month-high and well above the level of 52.7 expected for November, and up from 52.4 the previous month.
Later on Monday, the U.K. is to release data on service sector activity and the Institute for Supply Management is to release its non-manufacturing PMI. New York Fed President William Dudley is to speak about the macroeconomic outlook in New York. St. Louis Fed head James Bullard is to speak at an event in Arizona.
Last week, the dollar slid against a basket of the major currencies on Friday after data showing that while the U.S. economy added more jobs than forecast last month wage growth declined.
The Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in November from the prior month, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6%, its lowest level in nine years.
Economists had forecast nonfarm payrolls rising by 175,000 last month and the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 4.9%.
However, the report also showed that average hourly earnings fell 0.1% from October, while the annual rate of wage growth slowed to 2.5% from 2.8% in October. The report underlined the Federal Reserve’s case for raising U.S. interest rates at its upcoming meeting on December 13-14, but the weak wage data clouded the outlook for further rate hikes in 2017.