New York, The US dollar increased against most other major currencies as investors continued to digest the country’s nonfarm payroll report for September.
In late New York trading on Monday, the euro decreased to $1.1488 from $1.1528 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to $1.3089 from $1.3128 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Australian dollar increased to $0.7078 from $0.7055.
The US dollar bought 112.98 Japanese yen, lower than 113.77 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was up to 0.9926 Swiss franc from 0.9917 Swiss franc, and it climbed to 1.2961 Canadian dollars from 1.2953 Canadian dollars.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.17 per cent at 95.7670 in late trading.
The unemployment rate declined to 3.7 per cent in September, hitting a 48-year low, the US labor department said on Friday. US total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 134,000 in September, missing market estimates.
In September, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents to $27.24. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 73 cents, or 2.8 per cent.
“September nonfarm payrolls rose just 134k, quite a bit less than the 185k consensus, but August was revised up 69k and July was revised up 18k, resulting in a bigger-than-expected net job gain. Plus, the unemployment rate, expected to fall a tenth, fell two tenths from 3.9 per cent to 3.7 per cent,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.
“Despite the hurricane-weakened headline rise, this was a strong report. Average hourly earnings might have been storm affected, but they were solid nonetheless,” he added.
The US dollar was also boosted by higher interest rates. The 10-year note yield touched 3.24 per cent and hit a fresh seven-year high on Friday, amid the jobs report. The US bond market was closed on Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.
There was no major economic data due out on Monday.
