Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed against the other major currencies on Monday, after data showing that the pace of the recovery in the U.S. labor market is moderating tempered speculation that the Federal Reserve may end its easing program sooner than had been expected.
During European morning trade, the greenback pushed higher against the euro, with EUR/USD sliding 0.23% to 1.3038.
Official data on Friday showed the U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in December, easing from an upwardly revised increase of 161,000 in November. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.8%.
The data came one day after the minutes from the Fed's December meeting showed that some policymakers considered an earlier-than-expected end to the bank's quantitative easing program.
Meanwhile, relief over an agreement to avoid the U.S. fiscal cliff was offset by concerns about continuing political wrangling over further budget cuts and raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
Elsewhere, the dollar pulled back from two-and-a-half-year highs against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.30% to 87.88 as traders locked in profits after the dollar's recent sharp gains.
The greenback was fractionally higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.07% to 1.6058.
The greenback gained ground against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.23% to 0.9267.
Earlier Monday, a report by the Swiss National Bank showed that foreign currency reserves declined to CHF427.17 billion in December from CHF427.37 billion the previous month, down for the third successive month.
The greenback was broadly weaker against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD inching down 0.10% to 0.9863, AUD/USD gaining 0.23% to trade at 1.0505 and NZD/USD up 0.55% to 0.8361.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.09% to 80.69.
Also Monday, official data showed that producer price inflation in the euro zone declined 0.2% in November, defying expectations for a 0.1% increase.
A separate report showed that the Sentix index of investor confidence in the euro zone came in at minus seven in January, its highest level since February 2011, after a reading of minus 16.8 last month.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
