The Dollar gained in quiet trade on Monday against most major currencies as Investors reassessed risk and bet that Friday's sell-off on a US payrolls report was overdone. September job growth was the best since May and eased concern about an imminent US recession, but some Dealers sold the Dollar on concern the economy is not growing fast enough to prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates further.
Monday's gains came as investors decided the jobs report indicated some vigor in the economy. Adding to the Dollar's strength was concern that the Group of Seven nations may address Dollar weakness at their upcoming meeting, which could hurt some investors who had been betting on the Dollar's continued decline.
Yesterday, EurUsd slipped 0.64% to 1.4047, off its record high of 1.4280 hit last week, and below its level of 1.4138 late on Friday in New York as the jobs data reduced chances that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates this month. Traders said near-term support kicks in around 1.4030. The UsdJpy climbed to 117.39, a gain of 0.38% from 116.95 late Friday. Analysts said traders had recovered their taste for carry trades that use cheaply borrowed yen to buy higher-yield currencies. With markets in Japan and Canada closed for holidays and the US bond market also shut for Columbus Day, trade was light on Monday, leaving the Dollar near the top of rather narrow ranges.
FX Markets now see euro-zone rates on hold for the rest of 2007 after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet spoke of downside growth risks last week, and that has moved interest-rate differentials in favor of the Dollar. Futures markets are now reflecting a 44% chance of a Fed rate cut on Oct. 31, lower than the 75% priced in last Thursday (day before the jobs report).
Elsewhere, outgoing International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato said the Dollar was undervalued. Various European officials have also complained about the Dollar's decline and worried a strong Euro would undermine the euro-zone economy. Europe's finance and economy Ministers were meeting in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday, where they were expected to draft a unified approach to the dollar's decline heading into a G7 meeting next week. But G7 won't be able to focus on the Dollar without also addressing the value of the Chinese Yuan and Japanese Yen, two other currencies seen as undervalued.