Dollar moves higher vs. yen in quiet trade

The dollar moved higher against the yen in quiet trading on Monday, as recent indications that the U.S. economy is improving dampened safe haven demand for the yen.

The dollar pushed higher the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.17% to 99.24, re-approaching Thursday’s seven week highs of 99.40.

The dollar strengthened across the board after official data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, significantly higher than the 125,000 expected by economists. 

The report came on the heels of data showing that the U.S. economy expanded by a larger-than-forecast 2.8% in the third quarter.

The upbeat data indicated that the U.S. economy shrugged off the impact of the government shutdown and raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve may start winding down its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program as soon as its next monthly meeting in December.

The euro pushed higher against the dollar, with EUR/USD rising 0.36% to 1.3407 from Friday’s close of 1.3364, moving further away from the seven week low of 1.3294 hit on Thursday.

Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.22% to 1.5978 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHFsliding 0.22% to 0.9194.

The greenback was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/USDfalling 0.28% to 0.9357.

Australia’s dollar remained supported after data released on Monday showed that the nation’s home loans rose 4.4% in September, exceeding expectations for a 4% increase.

The greenback was little changed against the New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with NZD/USD dipping 0.08% to 0.8236 and USD/CADinching down 0.03% to 1.0474.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slid 0.14% to 81.19.