TOKYO, Japan?The dollar was range-bound against other major currencies in Asia on Monday as the market looked for fresh trading pegs after a better-than-expected US jobs report, analysts said.

The dollar fetched 84.43 yen in Tokyo morning trade, slightly up from 84.32 yen in New York late Friday.

The euro was changing hands at 1.2895 dollars and 108.81 yen, flat from New York, where the jobs data on Friday encouraged investors to take on more risky assets such as the single European unit and stocks.

In a closely watched report, the Labor Department said Friday that the economy lost 54,000 jobs last month, a better figure than the 120,000 loss expected by economists, as the unemployment rate climbed to 9.6 percent, its highest level since May.

"The employment data made the dollar rise and then fall," said Mizuho Corporate Bank market economist Daisuke Karakama.

"The headline figure was better than expected, providing a good excuse to buy back the dollar," pushing the greenback into the 85-yen range briefly, he said.

"But the figure also represented job losses for the third straight month and the jobless rate rose," he said. "It's reasonable that the dollar lost steam."

Trading was quiet with the New York market closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

Market players were watching the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting starting Monday although they do not expect new action after the central bank announced additional credit easing measures just a week ago, Karakama said.