LONDON (AFP) - The dollar drifted higher against the euro in a modest recovery after Friday's decline following weak US job creation numbers for September.
The single European currency stood at 1.2384 dollars, compared with 1.2408 late Friday in New York.
The dollar traded at 109.23 yen from 109.50 on Friday.
With Japan and most of North America closed for a public holiday, trading lacked intensity and players focussed instead on adjusting positions, said Gary Noone at Informa Global Markets.
"It's all a bit quiet but the dollar has managed to edge up mainly on technical trading," he said.
The US currency suffered falls Friday when official figures showed US employers hired only 96,000 extra workers in September, far fewer than the 150,000 expected.
The weak job creation numbers raised concerns that the world's largest economy has not fully emerged from the "soft spot" experienced earlier in the summer and that the cost of borrowing in the United States may not rise as fast as many have anticipated.
Still, markets were pricing in one more quarter-point rate hike in the US this year, after three of them since June. US borrowing costs currently stand at 1.75 percent.
Despite these concerns, currencies such as the euro were finding it hard to break through to new highs. While it was quite possible that the single European currency would hit 1.2450 dollars, it was also likely to drift back down as players take profits, said Noone.
Indeed, the key interest point for markets now is whether the euro can break above the 1.1750-1.2465 dollar range it has settled in over the last six months.
It is hard to envisage any sharp moves in the currency market until later in the week when the data calendar hots up, analysts said.
US trade data on Thursday and retail sales as well as industrial output numbers on Friday will be closely watched.
Elsewhere, the pound rose slightly after data published in the morning suggested that inflationary pressures were building up.
Official figures showed inflationary pressures at the factory gate becoming more and more evident but at the same time a house price survey from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed a slowdown in house price inflation.
At present, the market thinks the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee will raise the cost of borrowing another quarter point in November, taking its key repo rate up to 5.00 percent.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar jumped to a six-month high of 73.82 dollars before settling a little lower on the back of the Conservative government's stronger-than-expected election victory at the weekend.
Analysts expect the government to run an expansionary fiscal policy and continue its de-regulation policy, including the privatisation of telecommunications operator Telstra.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2384 dollars, down from 1.2408 late Friday in New York, 135.26 yen (135.90), 0.6887 pounds (0.6911) and 1.5489 Swiss francs (1.5516).
The dollar stood at 109.23 yen (109.50) and 1.2507 Swiss francs (1.2505).
The pound was at 1.7978 dollars (1.7947), 196.38 yen (196.57) and 2.2487 Swiss francs (2.2441).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at 421.70 dollars against 421.75 late on Friday.