US NFP stronger than expected
Services ISM miss reading overshadows NFP
The reopening of China
The US dollar was weak in the Asian session following the fall recorded at the end of last week's trade despite a stronger US NFP jobs reading.
The greenback initially strengthened ahead of the data release following indications from an increase in the ADP jobs report and declining jobless claims.
However, when the NFP data was released with stronger job growth and a drop in the unemployment rate in December, the market instead focused on slower wage growth.
The US economy added 223,000 jobs last month, better than expectations for an increase of 200,000 but down from November's record of 256,000. However, this was the smallest increase in two years.
The unemployment rate surprised the market by dropping to 3.5% from a revised 3.6% in November and above expectations of 3.7%.
Even so, wage growth started to show a reduction to 0.3% from the previous 0.4% which signaled a slower rate hike from the Federal Reserve due to reduced price pressures.
The situation worsened when the US ISM services PMI data was published showing contraction in December causing the US dollar to be dragged lower.
Following the decline of the US dollar, most other major currencies took advantage of the opportunity to move higher.
The Asian session saw the Aussie dollar strengthen around a 4-month high, while New Zealand hit a two-week high, with news of China's reopening also supporting better sentiment.
On the European currency side, the euro and pound also traded higher, enough to support both currencies' recovery from lows.
