Investing.com - The dollar held onto gains against the other major currencies in subdued trade on Monday, as Friday’s strong U.S. employment data continued to boost optimism over the strength of the economy.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 287,000 jobs last month, well above the 175,000 jobs forecast by economists. Average hourly earnings were up 2.6% compared with a year earlier.
The report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.9% and May’s payrolls figure was revised down to 11,000 from a previously reported 38,000, the smallest monthly increase since 2010.
The strong jobs report was seen as unlikely to alter the Federal Reserve’s cautious plans for raising interest rates.
GBP/USD held steady at 1.2950, still close to last week’s fresh 31-year lows of 1.2796.
The pound briefly rose above the 1.30 level against the dollar on Monday, boosted by prospects that Theresa May will become the next U.K. prime minster much earlier than had been anticipated.
The news came after Andrea Leadsom, one of the two candidates from Britain’s ruling Conservative Party to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron pulled out of the race.
But sterling remained under pressure amid mounting expectations for a rate cut from the Bank of England at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Thursday.
USD/JPY rallied 2.05% to 102.64, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9834.
The yen weakened after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ordered a new round of fiscal stimulus spending.
The move came after Abe’s ruling coalition increased its majority in the upper house in parliamentary elections on Sunday.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1054.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars pushed lower, with AUD/USD down 0.55% at 0.7530 and with NZD/USD tumbling 1.16% to 0.7223.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD climbed 0.61% to trade at 1.3123, the highest since June 2.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.31% 96.61, just off two-week highs of 96.81 hit overnight.