SINGAPORE: The euro rose against the dollar in Asian trade Monday as a better-than-expected US April jobs report boosted hopes of resurgent growth in the world's biggest economy, analysts said.
The euro was at $1.3122 in afternoon Asian trade from $1.3116 in New York late Friday. The single currency was also buying 130.04 yen from 129.80 yen.
The dollar was up to 99.10 yen from 99.00 yen.
Japanese financial markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.
"The euro is recovering well after the ECB rate cut," said Philip Wee, senior currency economist at DBS Group Research in Singapore.
The European Central Bank last week cut interest rates by a quarter-point to a record low of 0.50 percent as part of efforts to boost demand and help the debt-stricken eurozone escape from recession.
"There is also support from the better-than-expected non-farm payroll data from the US last week," Wee said.
The US Labor Department on Friday reported the US economy added 165,000 jobs in April, and revised sharply upwards its numbers for the previous two months, helping to send the unemployment rate down to 7.5 percent.
The data offered a significantly brighter picture of the jobs situation than that for March.
An upbeat US economic outlook usually gives confidence to traders to place their bets on riskier currencies, leading to a weaker dollar. The opposite is true during a crisis when the dollar, seen as a safe-haven currency, gains strength.
Financial markets were also supported by hopes that G7 finance ministers will reaffirm their pro-growth policies at a summit this weekend, according to Wee.
"There is a growing sentiment globally that with the quantitative easing measures, there is now breathing room for policies to support global growth," he told AFP.
The Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation has tipped the full Group of Seven (G7) most industrialised economies to grow by 1.8 percent in the second quarter of this year on an annualised basis, helped in part by monetary stimulus from central banks.
The dollar was down against other major Asian currencies.
It dipped to Sg$1.2306 from Sg1.2347 in Asian trade Friday, to 29.57 Thai baht from 29.69 baht, to 53.89 Indian rupees from 53.93, and to 1,093.65 South Korean won from 1,098.80.
The greenback also dropped to 29.53 Taiwan dollars from 29.54, and to 40.84 Philippine pesos from 40.94.
The Australian dollar strengthened to $1.0285 from $1.0260, while the Chinese yuan edged higher to 16.094 yen from 15.919 yen.
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