Dollar enjoys post-payrolls glow

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TOKYO: The dollar extended its post-payrolls gains on Monday in a sluggish start to the week with the Lunar New Year holidays and the Super Bowl game all but guaranteeing a tepid session in Asia.

The dollar index ticked up 0.1 percent to 97.144, after having climbed 0.6 percent on Friday thanks to an upbeat non-farm payrolls report.

While the headline employment gain of 151,000 undershot expectations, details were encouraging including a 0.5 percent jump in average hourly earnings - the biggest gain in a year. The jobless rate dipped to an 8-year low of 4.9 percent.

"This provides further evidence of the nascent improvement in wages growth, with some solid increases coming through in the past six months," analysts at ANZ wrote in a note to clients.

"The evidence is increasingly pointing towards a more resilient consumer, with falling unemployment and rising wages. A continuation of these themes would likely help quell fears over U.S. growth prospects."

The euro traded at $1.1131, having retreated from a three-month peak of $1.1250 touched on Friday.

Against the yen, the greenback rebounded 0.5 percent to 117.38, from Friday's 2-1/2 week trough of 116.285.