The dollar hit three-week highs on Monday morning after statements by Federal Reserve President William Dudley indicating that the Fed may try to avoid raising rates further while decreasing its $4.5 trillion bond portfolio. The dollar’s strength came despite Friday’s jobs report that showed the addition of only 98,000 jobs, significantly below the expected creation of 180,000 jobs and the lowest job numbers since May. Despite of the low job creation in March, U.S. unemployment hit near 10-year lows of 4.5 percent, providing optimism that the U.S. economy remains vibrant.
The dollar added 0.3 percent against the yen to trade at 111.43 yen on Monday morning. The greenback traded higher against the euro as well, trading at $1.0580.
Commodity Markets Move Higher
Oil prices remained firm in spite of the higher dollar, on fears that geopolitical tensions in oil producing regions could reduce supply. U.S. WTI crude futures gained 10 cents to trade at $52.34 per barrel and Brent crude futures gained 4 cents per barrel to trade at $55.28 per barrel. Nevertheless, reports of continued production increases in the U.S. prevented oil prices from climbing back over last week’s one-month high of $56 per barrel.
Spot gold continued enjoying safe-haven status on Monday, trading at $1,252.70 per ounce. The metal is up nearly 5 percent over the past month.
Traders remain cautious about the state of global security as a U.S. Navy strike group heads towards the western Pacific Ocean as a show of force against North Korea’s growing missile program. Top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump have already commented that the U.S. strike on a Syrian air base last week served as an initial warning to North Korea, as well as a retaliation for Syria’s chemical brutality.