Dollar and yen rise after Hamas attack undermines morale

The safe-haven dollar and Japanese yen rose on Monday after violence in the Middle East spooked markets, while a strong US jobs report gave the greenback a bigger boost.

The appetite for risk declined after Israeli forces clashed with gunmen from the Palestinian Hamas movement at the beginning of the week, hours after the gunmen launched a surprise attack in the bloodiest day of violence in Israel in 50 years.

This strengthened demand for the Japanese yen, which is traditionally considered a safe haven, pushing the Australian dollar, which is highly susceptible to risks, to decline about 0.8 percent to 94.61 yen.

Likewise, the euro fell about 0.4 percent to 157.45 yen in weak Asian trading, and the market in Japan was closed for a holiday.

Against the dollar, the price of the yen reached 149.21 yen in the latest transactions.

The dollar rose in general, pushing the pound sterling down 0.31 percent to $1.2194. The euro lost 0.32 percent to trade at $1.0553.

The Australian dollar, which is seen as an indicator of risk appetite, fell 0.59 percent to $0.6347, while the New Zealand dollar fell 0.36 percent to $0.5968.

The dollar index rose 0.1 percent to 106.33, drawing additional support from data showing on Friday that employment in the United States increased by the largest amount in eight months in September.