Dollar falls against most currencies, keeps rising against yen

Chicago (Dec 10)   The U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies on Monday but it continued to rise against the Japanese yen as investors seek higher yielding assets.

The yen weakened amid expanded market risk appetite as stock markets saw gains worldwide on Monday, propelled by a strong U.S. November non-farm payroll report and better-than-expected Chinese foreign trade.

Official data showed over the weekend that Chinese exports surged 12.7 percent in November year on year, which topped market estimates, and the country's monthly trade surplus surpassed 30 billion U.S. dollars for the second time.

The U.S. non-farm payroll added 203,000 in November, while the unemployment rate edged down to a five-year low of 7 percent from the prior month's 7.3 percent, reported the Labor Department last Friday.

The euro/dollar rate hit the level of 1.3730 in the session, as short-term interest rates in the euro zone money market edged up on Monday. The European Central Bank refrained from further monetary stimulus after a policy meeting last week, which continued to support the euro.

Recent data showed U.S. has been on the course of recovery, and more and more analysts believe the Federal Reserve would start to taper bond purchases no later than March 2014. The next Fed' s policy meeting is on Dec. 17 and Dec. 18.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3739 dollars from 1.3696 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.6427 dollars from 1.6344 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9107 dollar from 0.9097 dollar.