ZURICH: The Swiss franc was slightly weaker against the dollar on Monday as the greenback added to Friday's gains which followed a better-than-expected US jobs report.
The US labour market report on Friday showed 175,000 jobs were created in May, slightly ahead of expectations, though unemployment was up 0.1 percent to 7.6 percent.
While positive for the world's largest economy, the figures were not strong enough to reignite concerns about a reduction of the Federal Reserve's stimulus in the near-term.
"The labour figures are strong enough to show the job market is continuing to improve. But they are also "bad" enough that the Fed must not, or cannot, yet reduce its QE measures," analysts at St. Galler Kantonalbank said.
The franc fell 0.5 percent against the dollar to trade at 0.9407 by 0719 GMT compared to the New York close.
The franc was also weaker against the euro, creeping back above the 1.24 per euro mark after hitting a one-month high of 1.2269 on Friday before pulling back sharply.
"A couple of weak days on stock markets and a small increase in risk aversion among investors was enough to push the franc above the 1.23 mark against the euro. The central bank will have to pay attention to maintain the floor against the euro," SGKB analysts said.
Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday showed speculators had trimmed short positions on the Swiss franc, or bets the Swiss unit would fall, in the week to June 4, while also cutting bets on the dollar's continued rise.
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