Dollar broadly lower after U.S. jobs data, pound gains

The dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Monday as Friday’s weaker-than-forecast U.S. jobs data dampened expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon start to unwind its asset purchase program.

During European morning trade, the dollar fell to session lows against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.62% to 98.34. 

Data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in July, less than the 184,000 increase forecast by economists.

The dollar was also lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.14% to 1.3297.

The euro was boosted after data showed that the euro zone’s services purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.8 in July, from a final reading of 48.3 in June, adding to signs of a recovery in the euro zone.

Elsewhere, the dollar fell to session lows against the pound withGBP/USD climbing 0.40% to 1.5353 after data showed that the U.K. service sector expanded at the fastest pace in more than six-and-a-half years in July.

The U.K. services PMI rose to 60.2 from 56.9 in June, well above economists’ expectations for a reading of 57.2.

The dollar slipped lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF losing 0.12% to trade at 0.9282. 

The greenback was mixed against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD easing up 0.10% to 0.8911,NZD/USD down 0.50% to 0.7796 and USD/CAD sliding 0.11% to 1.0381.

The New Zealand dollar fell to one-year lows following reports of milk powder contamination at Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.19% to 81.85. 

Investors were looking ahead to the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index later Monday, as well as euro zone data on retail sales.