Dollar extends rally on upbeat US jobs data

The dollar rose against the yen and most emerging market currencies on Monday after news that the US economy added more jobs than expected last month.

On Friday, the Labor department said the world’s top economy added 255,000 jobs in July, beating analyst forecasts for an increase of 185,000 payrolls, while also upgrading employment estimates for the prior two months.

The figures boost the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year, after soft GDP data had all but taken a rise off the table.

“In terms of relative monetary policy, the US dollar will have more upside against the euro and the pound because the Bank of England is easing and the risk is ECB (European Central Bank) eases more,” Elias Haddad, a senior currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, told Bloomberg News.

At the same time, “the monetary policy divergence that we’ve had last year or two years ago isn’t going to be as pronounced this year even if the Fed does raise its rate in December.”

On Monday, the greenback rose to 102.01 yen from 101.79 yen in New York and 101.08 yen in Tokyo earlier Friday.

The euro bought 113.29 yen and $1.1104 against 112.89 yen and $1.1096. The pound was flat at $1.3086.

The dollar also broadly rose against a basket of Asian currencies including the South Korean won, Malaysian ringgit, Indonesia’s rupiah and Taiwan dollar.

However, the Thai baht rose 0.4 percent against the greenback after voters over the weekend approved a junta-scripted constitution in a boost to the army’s political aspirations.