Investing.com - The Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar in early Asia on Monday with Tokyo on holiday, while the Australian dollar also lost ground ahead of China trade data.
USD/JPY traded at 107.29, down 0.33%, and AUD/USD traded at 0.8662, down 0.29%. EUR/USD held at 1.2647, up 0.16%.
Markets in Japan are to remain closed for a national holiday. China's trade balance is scheduled with no release time available with exports seen up 11.8%, imports down 2.7% and a trade surplus of $41 billion seen.
Last week, the dollar gained ground against most of the other major currencies amid fears over global growth, but the dollar index snapped a 12-week winning streak.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer acknowledged Saturday that the Fed will have a global economic and financial impact when it starts to raise interest rates, but said clear communication should prevent any great surprises on global markets.
And Fischer said the Fed will delay rate hikes until there is clear evidence that the U.S. economy has "advanced far enough" to make progress on its employment and inflation goals.
Market sentiment was also hit by fears that Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy is being dragged into a recession after recent data indicated unexpected weakness in manufacturing and exports.
Data released on Thursday showed that German exports fell 5.8% in August, and this followed weak industrial output figures on Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecasts for global growth in 2014 and 2015 and warned that global growth may never reach its pre-crisis levels ever again.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.17% to 85.81.
The dollar weakened on Wednesday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting showed that some officials were concerned over the impact of the stronger dollar on global growth and the outlook for U.S. inflation.
In the week ahead, investors will be awaiting U.S. data on retail sales and industrial production for fresh indications on the strength of the economic recovery.
Tuesday’s ZEW report on German economic sentiment will also be closely watched.
Markets in Canada are to remain closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, while U.S. markets will be closed for Columbus Day.