Investing.com - The dollar was hovering close to seven month lows against a basket of the other major currencies on Monday after a disappointing U.S. jobs report, while sterling dipped in the wake of a weekend terrorist attack in London.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, edged up 0.09% to 96.7 by 07.21 GMT.
The index hit a seven month trough of 96.61 on Friday, the weakest level since the U.S. presidential election on November 8, which sent the index soaring.
The U.S. economy added 138,000 jobs last month the Labor Department reported on Friday, falling far short of economists’ expectations for 185,000 new jobs.
Figures for March and April were also revised to show that 66,000 fewer jobs were created than expected, indicating that the labor market may be losing momentum.
The unemployment rate ticked down to a 16-year low of 4.3%.
Most analysts believe the poor data will not stop the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates at its meeting later this month, but most market participants now expect a more dovish path in the second half of the year.
The dollar inched higher against the safe haven yen, with USD/JPY edging up to 110.48 after touching a two-week low of 110.31 overnight.
The yen showed little reaction after a group of Gulf states cut diplomatic relations with Qatar on Monday, leading to heightened tensions in the region.
Sterling was slightly lower, with GBP/USD last at 1.2873 after touching an overnight low of 1.2860.
The pound came under pressure after the third terrorist attack in the UK in less than three months killed at least seven people on Saturday.
The attack came ahead of Thursday’s general election, in which opinion polls have indicated that Prime Minister Theresa May’s lead over the Labor party is narrowing.
The euro was a touch lower, with EUR/USD edging down to 1.1270 from a seven month peak of 1.1283.
The single currency was little changed near one-and-a-half-month highs against the pound, with EUR/GBP at 0.8758.