Dollar edges lower amid profit taking!

Dollar edges lower amid profit taking

Investing.com – The dollar traded mixed to lower against most major currencies in a quiet session on Monday after investors locked in gains from Friday's surprisingly strong October jobs report and sold the unit for profits.

In U.S. trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.33% at 1.3408.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, far surpassing expectations for a 125,000 increase.

A day earlier, official data showed that the U.S. economy grew 2.8% on year in the third quarter, well beyond expectations for 2.0% growth.�

The figures fueled market sentiments that the Federal Reserve could soon announce plans to scale back its USD85 billion in monthly asset purchases, which drive down borrowing costs to spur recovery, weakening the greenback as a side effect.

Profit taking kicked in on Monday, especially after investors concluded that the Fed may likely leave its stimulus programs unchanged until Janet Yellen takes the helm of the U.S. central bank and holds her first policy meeting in March.

Further fueling profit taking were concerns that fewer high-quality jobs are being created when compared to retail, leisure and hospitality jobs, which could prompt the Fed to keep policy ultra-loose into early 2014.

The session saw little in the way of economic indicators, which allowed for quiet trading.

The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.15% at 1.5990.

The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.12% at 99.21, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.23% at 0.9194.

The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.03% at 1.0474, AUD/USD down 0.27% at 0.9357 and NZD/USD trading up 0.04% at 0.8248.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.16% at 81.16.