By: Hillel Fuld
The USD and JPY were weaker on Monday while the commodity-linked AUD hit a one-year high after investors focused their attention on the full half of the cup regarding a mixed U.S. payrolls report.
Asian shares increased, Japan's Nikkei average .N225 rose 1 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC gained 0.9 percent, providing support for currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars, which generally benefit from optimism about a global financial recovery.
However price movements were confined to ranges in Asian trade the US market is closed on Monday for a national holiday. Friday's data displayed U.S. job losses in August were the smallest in a year, although unemployment jumped to a 26-year high, suggesting any recovery in the labor market would be tepid. "The data showed the pace of deterioration in the U.S. jobs market slowed. But details were not necessarily positive and the data provided no surprise," said Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Trust & Banking. "The market is not in a mood to lean towards further risk aversion. But since the jobs report was still tepid, investors will continue to watch other U.S. economic figures," she said.
The dollar index .DXY, a gauge of the dollar's performance against six major currencies, did not see much change, at 78.093. Against the JPY, the dollar rose to 93.16 yen JPY=, up 0.2 percent from late U.S. trading on Friday when the U.S. currency rose as high as 93.26 yen on trading platform EBS.
The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.4325 and gained 0.4 percent to 133.45 yen EURJPY=R. "We continue to see the risk being for a much stronger than expected rebound in U.S. growth and a continuing economic recovery in China," said John Kyriakopoulos, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank. "Such an outcome, especially if accompanied by stronger U.S consumer spending, would likely boost stock markets, risk-appetite and commodity prices, helping propel the Aussie to the $0.86 level (where) we expect it to end the year."
The Australian dollar rose to $0.8540 on Reuters dealing system data, its highest in a year. It later slightly eased to $0.8521, up 0.2 percent.