Dollar moves higher in quiet trade, U.S. data still supports

The dollar moved higher against the other major currencies on Monday, as Friday’s upbeat U.S. nonfarm payrolls data continued to support.

Trading was expected to remain quiet with no major U.S. economic reports expected throughout the day.

EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1081.

The greenback strengthened broadly on Friday after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs last month, well above expectations for 180,000.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9%, as more people entered the labor market.

The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose month-on-month by 0.3%, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain. They were up 2.6% on the year.

The upbeat data reignited speculation that the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates this year.

GBP/USD slipped 0.21% to 1.3043, close to Friday’s three-and-a-half week lows of 1.3019.

The pound was still under pressure after the Bank of England cut interest rates to a record-low 0.25% last week, in a move to buffer the economy from a downturn following the Brexit vote.

USD/JPY climbed 0.72% to trade at 102.52, while USD/CHF gained 0.30% to 0.9838.

The Australian dollar was stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.62% at 0.7664, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.7141.

Earlier Monday, data showed that China’s imports declined by 12.5% in July, compared to expectations for a 7.0% drop. Exports fell by 4.4% last month, compared to expectations for a 3.0% fall.

China is Australia’s biggest export partner and New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.

Elsewhere, USD/CAD edged down 0.14% to trade at 1.3155.

The commodity-related loonie strengthened mildly as oil prices moved back higher on Monday, amid renewed hopes for an agreement among exporters to freeze output.

But gains were capped after Statistics Canada reported that building permits dropped 5.5% in June, confounding expectations for a 1.5% rise. Building permits fell 2.1% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.9% slide.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.16% at 96.34, not far from Friday’s one-week high of 96.50.