(RTTNews) - Monday, the dollar showed mixed trading against its major counterparts after registering strong gains on Friday following better-than-expected U.S. jobs data.
The dollar jumped to a 10-day high against the pound, while pared recent gains against the franc. On the other hand, the dollar showed choppy trading against the yen, but recouped recent losses against the euro.
The U.S. Labor Department report showed that non-farm payroll employment fell by 247,000 jobs in July following a revised decrease of 443,000 jobs in June. Economists had been expecting employment to fall by 325,000 jobs compared to the drop of 467,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The Labor Department also said that the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down to 9.4% in July from 9.5%, recording a decrease for the first time since April 2008.
Tracking Friday's strong close on Wall Street where stocks had rallied quite sharply on better-than-expected employment data, Asian stocks rose today with the Japanese Nikkei moving past the 10,500 mark for the first time in ten months.
But the European stocks opened lower today, following a four-week rally, with banking and commodity stocks the biggest fallers on the main index.
Oil prices dipped below $71 a barrel today, losing momentum after last week's rally as traders focused on swollen inventories and prospects for a stronger dollar. U.S. crude fell 34 cents to $70.59 a barrel at 6:02 am ET. London Brent crude fell 18 cents to $73.41.
The dollar that declined to 97.09 against the yen in Asian deals on Monday showed choppy trading during early European trading. The pair bounced between 97.11 and 97.46. The next downside and upside target levels for the dollar-yen pair are seen at 95.8 and 97.8, respectively. At last week's close, the pair was quoted at 97.50.
According to a report from the government, Japanese core machinery orders rose 9.7% in June from the previous month. The rise was much bigger than the 2.9% increase expected on average by economists. The Cabinet Office data also showed core machinery orders fell 29.7% from a year earlier in June.
In another news, Japan's current account surplus rose 144.4% from a year earlier in June, data from the Finance Ministry showed today, marking the first increase in 16 months and boding well for the nation's export-reliant economy. The surplus in the current account, the broadest measure of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, stood at Y1.153 trillion in June before seasonal adjustment, the data showed.
