Summary U.S. employment rose more than expected in April.
LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar edged up against the yen on Monday and stocks held near last week s multi-year highs thanks to a brighter outlook for the U.S. economy generated by last week s strong employment data.
Stock index futures pointed to a mixed day ahead for Wall Street, though this follows steep gains on Friday in the wake of the payrolls report that took the Dow and S&P 500 indexes to new closing highs.
Brent crude oil futures hit their highest level in nearly a month after Israeli air strikes on Syria on Friday and Sunday highlighted risks to supplies from the Middle East. With Tokyo and London closed for holidays, trading volumes were generally thin across all other markets.
The main moves were in the dollar against the yen, where Friday s U.S. jobs data eased fears of a slowdown in the world s largest economy, setting the stage for the greenback to re-test the 100 yen level. It rose slightly to 99.25 yen on Monday.
"The U.S. does seem to be in a cyclical recovery. It is outperforming all the rest of the major economies globally, and that can t be ignored," said Greg Matwejev, director of FX, Hedge Fund Sales and Trading for Newedge.
"We ve probably got a better chance at making a crack at 100 now, and I wouldn t be surprised in the coming sessions that we do see that happen."
The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 99.25 yen by lunchtime in Europe, extending Friday s 1-percent gain. The yen has fallen steadily since the Bank of Japan announced a massive plan last month to boost the Japanese economy.
U.S. employment rose more than expected in April, with 165,000 jobs created, and hiring was much stronger than thought in the previous two months. This eased concerns raised by other data which had pointed to the U.S. economy losing steam.
The dollar s rise was being helped by U.S. Treasury bond yields which jumped in reaction to the jobs report. The 10-year note yield was at 1.74 percent on Monday, having posted its biggest single-day rise since Sept. 14 on Friday.
