Positive U.S. Jobs Data Sends Markets Higher

The dollar steadied notably during early Asian trading on Monday after positive jobs data released on Friday supported continued policy tightening by the Federal Reserve including another interest rate hike later in the year.  The dollar gained 0.22 percent against the yen to trade at 114.12 yen 9:49 am. HK/SIN.  The dollar index remained steady, trading around 96.018 .DXY.  The euro was relatively flat against the dollar in early Monday trade, hovering near $1.1406, but it gained 0.38 percent against the yen to trade at 130.18 yen.

In contrast to the positive data out from the United States which embraced positive data, the Bank of Japan announced on Friday that it seeks to keep Japanese government bond yields near its policy target and to implement a special plan to increase the size of its regular Japanese government bond purchase operations.

Asian Stocks and Oil Prices Also Higher

Asian stocks took advantage of the positive U.S. data and followed Wall Street higher on Monday.  Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5 percent in early trade, leading MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan which gained 0.15 percent.  South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2 percent and Australian stocks gained 0.4 percent.

Oil prices also enjoyed gains on Monday morning, with U.S. WTI crude futures trading up 36 cents per barrel at $44.59, a 0.81 percent increase after a 2.8 percent decline on Friday.  Brent crude futures were also up on Monday, trading at $47.08 per barrel, up 0.79 percent.  Friday’s losses were caused largely after reports showed that OPEC exports hit a 2017 high and that U.S. crude production rose last week, yielding reasonable concerns about the potential for oversupply.

Sara Patterson
Sara Patterson has a Master’s Degree in political science and enjoys analyzing both current events and the international markets to get a fuller perspective of the currency market. Before turning to financial writing, she taught English writing skills to high-school age students. Sara’s work has been published on various financial and Forex blogs.