Dollar off to firm start as focus shifts to jobs data

The dollar’s index against six other major currencies rose 0.1% to 91.870, having recovered from Friday’s low of 91.524 hits in the wake of the inflation readings.

The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1923, as it struggled to recover the $1.20 level, while the dollar hovered at 110.67 yen, not far from Wednesday’s 15-month high of 110.105.

The U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.5%, short of expectations for a 0.6% rise.

Signs of a tight labor market have also kept many investors fretting over wage-driven price pressures. Among a raft of economic indicators this week, Friday’s payroll data is a key focus – with economists expecting an increase of 675,000 jobs.

December 2022 Fed funds rates futures are almost fully pricing in a 0.25 percentage point rate hike by the end of next year and speculators had cut the value of bets against the dollar, or short bets, by the most in six months last week.

The general mood around an ongoing economic recovery is also solid, as Republican Senate negotiators on an infrastructure deal were optimistic about a $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill after President Joe Biden withdrew his threat to veto the measure unless a separate Democratic spending plan also passes Congress.

That has some reckoning on the dollar falling back into a downtrend if the jobs data passes without surprise.

Elsewhere, cryptocurrencies hung on to a bounce from weekend lows but we’re tracking towards a second consecutive monthly loss. Bitcoin last traded at $34,281, while ether fetched $1,973, not far from Tuesday’s three-month low of $1,700.

Britain’s financial regulator said last week that Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, cannot conduct any regulated activity and issued a warning to consumers about the platform.