Dollar pauses after losses as investors seek new clues about the US economy.

By Stanley White

TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar stabilized against most currencies on Monday, with traders awaiting more data on the U.S. economy after a disappointing job report last week halted the dollar’s recovery.

The euro maintained its gains against the dollar, but faces a test later on Monday, with data that should show that growth in German industrial production slowed at the end of last year.

Speculators have cut short dollar positions, but some analysts say better US economic data and continued progress in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic will be needed for further dollar gains.

“Soft non-farm payrolls really pulled the ladder down below the dollar,” said Yukio Ishizuki, an exchange strategist at Daiwa Securities.

“Now markets are questioning whether the dollar can rise further. Much depends on the coronavirus, but we also need to know when the US fiscal stimulus will be approved.”

Against the euro, the dollar traded at $ 1.2042, after falling 0.7% on Friday.

The pound bought $ 1.3731, almost a three-year high.

The dollar was quoted at 105.49 yen, after retreating from a three-month high hit on Friday.

The US economy created fewer jobs than expected in January, while job losses in the previous month were deeper than initially reported, data showed at the end of last week.

The release of US consumer prices and consumer sentiment later this week will help determine whether a recent increase in inflation expectations and Treasury yields was justified.

Any disappointing number in any report could bring the dollar down, some analysts said. Investors are also closely monitoring a debate in the US about additional fiscal stimulus.

President Joe Biden and his Democrats are moving forward with the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package. House of Representatives President Nancy Pelosi predicted that final relief legislation could be passed by Congress before March 15.

The basket against the six major currencies stood at 91.045, after falling 0.6% on Friday.

Speculators’ low net bets on the dollar fell to $ 29.95 billion in the week ending February 2, compared with a net short position of $ 33.81 billion the previous week, according to Reuters calculations and data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In the cryptocurrency market, ethereum spot prices rose 0.09% to $ 1,618 after listing ethereum futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Sunday.

, the most popular cryptocurrency, fell 0.42% to $ 38,693.

The exchange rate rose slightly to 6.4577 per dollar, but trade is expected to moderate before the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, which begins on Thursday.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar has remained stable at $ 0.7675. Across the Tasmanian Sea, the New Zealand dollar rose to $ 0.7200.