News: CBA FOREX-Dollar near one-month low on bets Fed to delay taper

The dollar hovered near a one-month low versus major peers on Monday, after a weaker-than-expected jobs report fuelled some expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could delay the start of its stimulus tapering.

The dollar index =USD , which measures the currency against six rivals, edged 0.1% higher to 92.201, after dipping to 91.941 for the first time since Aug. 4 on Friday, when a closely watched U.S. labour report showed the world's largest economy created the fewest jobs in seven months in August.

The euro EUR=EBS eased 0.08% to $1.18685 after matching the highest level since June 29 at $1.1909 at the end of last week. The single currency has been supported by expectations the European Central Bank, which meets on Thursday, is close to tapering its own stimulus programme.

The greenback edged 0.09% higher to 109.785 yen JPY=EBS , still meandering in the middle of its trading range of the past two months.

The value of speculators' net long U.S. dollar position grew to its largest since March 2020, reaching nearly $11 billion in the week ended Aug. 31, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by just 235,000 in August, compared with a 728,000 median forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, as a resurgence in COVID-19 infections weighed on demand at restaurants and hotels and stalled hiring in the leisure and hospitality sector.

However, average hourly earnings jumped 0.6%, the result of worker shortages caused by the pandemic.

It paints a complicated economic picture for the Fed, which has to balance keeping inflation in check against its new commitment to a broad labour market recovery.

The next clues on whether Friday's numbers saw employment stray from the Fed's test of "substantial further progress" may come Wednesday when New York Fed President John Williams speaks on the economic outlook.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated in August the U.S. central bank will continue its asset purchases at the current pace until they see "substantial further progress toward our maximum employment and price stability goals."

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for a holiday. Three major Australian banks said on Monday they had pushed back their expectations for the start of Fed tapering following the U.S. jobs report.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia now expects Fed tapering to start in December from October previously.

"The U.S.'s deteriorating COVID situation will weigh on the USD because the situation is better elsewhere in the major economies," CBA strategists wrote in a client note.

Australia's dollar AUD=D3 weakened 0.19% to $0.7434, but remained close to Friday's $0.74775, which was its highest since July 15. The Reserve Bank of Australia decides on monetary policy on Tuesday.

National Australia Bank predicts the RBA will reduce asset purchases again at the meeting, "although the optics of tapering amid protracted lockdowns means it is likely to be a close decision," NAB analyst Tapas Strickland wrote in a report.

New Zealand's kiwi NZD=D3 slipped 0.2% to $0.7139, after rising to $0.7170 on Friday - its highest since June 11.

Following strong two-week rallies, both the Aussie and kiwi "appear to have firmly broken out of recent ranges," Strickland said.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC=BTSP was roughly flat at $51,774.43, after earlier touching $51,988.42, a level not seen since May 12.

Smaller rival ether ETH=BTSP traded slightly weaker at $3,925.98 after topping $4,000 last week for the first time since mid-May.

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	Currency bid prices at 0543 GMT 

 Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
											  Previous				   Change				  
											  Session											
 Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.1868		$1.1880	 -0.09%		 -2.86%	  +1.1888	 +1.1865 
 Dollar/Yen		JPY=EBS	109.7900	   109.6400	+0.17%		 +6.33%	  +109.8400   +109.7650 
 Euro/Yen		 																			 
 Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.9148		 0.9139	  +0.10%		 +3.40%	  +0.9150	 +0.9138 
 Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 1.3847		 1.3861	  -0.08%		 +1.37%	  +1.3867	 +1.3844 
 Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.2539		 1.2533	  +0.06%		 -1.52%	  +1.2544	 +1.2515 
 Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 0.7434		 0.7449	  -0.20%		 -3.36%	  +0.7454	 +0.7427 
 NZ				NZD=D3	 0.7139		 0.7151	  -0.20%		 -0.62%	  +0.7167	 +0.7137 
 Dollar/Dollar																				   

All spots FX= Tokyo spots AFX= Europe spots EFX= Volatilities FXVOL= Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX

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World FX rates	https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E 

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