The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of rival currencies, edged up about 0.1 percent from Friday’s late US levels to 96.284, well above a seven-month low of 92.621 plumbed in August.
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Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday and Reuters calculations showed that speculators cut back further on bullish bets on the USA dollar in the week to September 1 for the second straight week.
The Australian dollar was the biggest gainer, rising 0.9 percent to $0.6980 against its USA counterpart and 1.5 percent against the yen to 83.70 yen. The Nasdaq composite gained 82 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,765.
Sterling managed to pull away as bargain hunting set in after the currency tumbled to a four-month low, driven by last week’s disappointing services sector report that added to doubts over whether the Bank of England would be able to raise interest rates any time soon. August’s figures were hit by disruption from a massive explosion at the busy Tianjin port and government-enforced factory shutdowns in the run-up to a huge military parade in Beijing last week. “That’s driving sentiment elsewhere, but fundamentally the trade data would indicate that the macro story in China remains weak”.
The dollar clawed back some of the ground it had lost against the yen on Monday, after skidding on mixed US employment data that failed to bring much clarity to the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s long-awaited interest rate hike.
THE QUOTE: “China came out with some disgusting trade numbers, yet the market is ignoring them”, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. Meredith jumped $4.45, or 9.6 percent, to $50.37 after agreeing to be acquired by fellow media company Media General.
EUROPE’S DAY: Germany’s DAX advanced 2.4 percent, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.4 percent and the CAC 40 in France gained 1.8 percent.
ASIA’S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index sank 2.5 percent to 3,080.42 after fluctuating between gains and losses. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed at 20,843.01 while Seoul’s Kospi added 0.2 percent to 1,888.95.
The greenback rose to 120.03 yen from 119.34 in Tokyo on Monday afternoon, after falling sharply earlier in the day.
The euro was slightly firmer at $1.1155, having gained in recent weeks as investors unwound euro-funded carry trades in which they borrowed euros to invest in high-yielding currencies.
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USA nonfarm payrolls increased less than expected last month, marking a slowdown from July’s upwardly revised gain, but the jobless rate dropped to its lowest in nearly 7-1/2 years and wages accelerated.
