Investing.com - The dollar was lower against a basket of other major currencies on Monday as Friday’s softer than expected U.S. jobs report prompted investors to book profits in the greenback after its recent strong gains.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.35% to 87.36, off Friday’s four-and-a-half year peaks of 88.31.
The dollar turned lower after data on Friday showed that though employment growth was solid, the U.S. economy added fewer than expected jobs last month.
The Labor Department said 214,000 jobs were created in October, falling short of expectations of 231,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to a fresh six-year low of 5.8% from 5.9% in September.
USD/JPY was down 0.46% to 114.06 from 114.58 late Friday, off the seven year peaks of 115.58 hit ahead of Friday’s jobs report.
EUR/USD was up 0.35% to 1.2497, recovering from Friday’s 26-month trough of 1.2356.
In the euro zone, data on Monday showed that Italian industrial production fell 0.9% from a month earlier in September, compared to expectations for a 0.2% gain.
The weak data fuelled fears that Friday’s report on third quarter growth will show that Italy has fallen back into a recession after the economy contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD rising 0.19% to 1.5902 and USD/CHF losing 0.38% to trade at 0.9621.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD rising 0.44% to 0.8670 and NZD/USD up 0.66% to 0.7803. USD/CAD was down 0.22% to 1.1302.
Also Monday, the Russian rouble jumped against the dollar after the country’s central bank said it had abandoned the rouble’s trading band and would allow the currency to float freely, but reiterated that it is prepared to intervene in currency markets at any time.