By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar kicked off the year with mild losses during holiday-thinned volume, though the currency managed to edge higher against the euro.
The dollar index DXY -0.27% , which tracks the U.S. unit against six other currencies, slipped to 80.178 during Asian trading hours Monday, down from 80.289 late Friday.
However, the euro fell by a larger margin, sending the European currency’s level against the dollar EURUSD +0.09% to $1.2932, from $1.2996 at the end of the previous week.
The Japanese yen, meanwhile, advanced against the two major rivals, with the dollar USDJPY +0.03% falling to ¥76.94, down from ¥76.99, while the euro EURJPY -0.09% dropped below the key ¥100 level to ¥99.54, compared to ¥100.04 Friday.
The British pound GBPUSD -0.15% sat at $1.5512, little changed from Friday’s $1.5513. The Australian dollar AUDUSD +0.14% eased modestly to $1.0216 from $1.0223.
The currency moves came as most markets remained closed for the New Year holiday and ahead of key U.S. data due later in the week, including the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index on Tuesday, and the closely watched non-farm payrolls report on Friday. See U.S. week-ahead report.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
