* Dollar index little changed after Friday payrolls fall
* Jobs data takes shine off dollar rebound
* Ethereum gains on futures debut
* Bitcoin hits record high after Tesla purchase
* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
(Adds new comment, FX table, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The dollar was flat to slightly lower on Monday in choppy trading, holding
its ground against a basket of major currencies after falling sharply on worse-than-expected U.S. jobs data
last week, as investors continued to price in faster U.S. recovery than most countries.
The dollar index was at 90.982, =USD , flat on the day. On Friday, it fell as low as 90.981 after data
showed the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in January and job losses in December were greater
than initially reported.
"We view Friday's non-farm payrolls report as a speed bump rather than a roadblock for the emerging
growth divergence narrative," said Mark McCormick, global head of FX strategy at TD Securities in Toronto,
in a research note.
"Stepping back from this single report, we still see growth expectations moving in the U.S.'s favor,
especially versus Europe. Since the end of the first lockdowns last year, the U.S., Japan, and Canada are
the lone G10 countries to have seen growth expectations rise for next year," he added.
Speculators have been reducing short positions - bets the dollar will weaken - on the currency. Some
analysts have flagged the likelihood that the same speculators will be forced out of their short positions
by a rise in the dollar.
Net bearish bets on the dollar by speculators fell to $29.95 billion for the week ended Feb. 2, compared
with a net short position of $33.81 billion for the previous week, according to calculations by Reuters and
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING said, that even if the U.S. dollar recovery stalls, "we could
continue to see evidence of a USD short squeeze in the coming weeks".
The euro was modestly up at $1.2057 against the dollar EUR=EBS .
In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan strategists said they "have growing confidence of underperformance of
EUR vs USD".
Investor morale in the euro zone unexpectedly fell in February as lockdowns to suppress the COVID-19
caseload left their mark on the economy, which lost touch with other regions in the world as they recovered
further, a survey by Sentix showed.
Sentix's investor sentiment index for the euro zone fell back into negative territory, dropping to -0.2
from 1.3 in January. A Reuters poll had pointed to a reading of 1.9. The British pound GBP=D3 bought $1.3686, 0.3% lower to the dollar.
The dollar was quoted at 105.62 yen JPY=EBS , having pulled back from a three-month high reached on
Friday.
In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin BTC=BTSP hit another record high of $44,899 after Tesla Inc
TSLA.O said on Monday it had invested around $1.5 billion in the virtual currency and expects to begin
accepting payment for its cars and other products with it in the near future. Bitcoin was last up 12.7% at 43,736.
Ethereum ETH=BTSP hit a fresh record high of $1,764.55 after the listing of ethereum futures on the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange late Sunday. It was last up 6% at $1,712.52.
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Currency bid prices at 9:38AM (1438 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index =USD 90.9580 90.9980 -0.03% 1.086% +91.2280 +90.9560
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.2056 $1.2050 +0.06% -1.32% +$1.2060 +$1.2020
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 105.3500 105.3550 +0.12% +2.12% +105.6650 +105.4050
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 127.02 126.93 +0.07% +0.08% +127.1200 +126.8700
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.8987 0.8986 +0.03% +1.60% +0.9019 +0.8986
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 $1.3721 $1.3736 -0.11% +0.43% +$1.3740 +$1.3680
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2755 1.2757 +0.00% +0.18% +1.2782 +1.2750
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 $0.7687 $0.7679 +0.12% -0.07% +$0.7687 +$0.7652
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0833 1.0828 +0.05% +0.24% +1.0846 +1.0826
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8785 0.8767 +0.21% -1.70% +0.8793 +0.8762
NZ NZD=D3 $0.7208 $0.7194 +0.19% +0.38% +$0.7212 +$0.7175
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK=D3 8.5080 8.5405 -0.16% -0.70% +8.5485 +8.5185
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.2583 10.2680 -0.09% -1.99% +10.2890 +10.2550
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.3824 8.3576 +0.22% +2.27% +8.4171 +8.3703
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.1060 10.0835 +0.22% +0.29% +10.1186 +10.0828
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