LONDON (MarketWatch) — The dollar extended last week’s gains against the euro Monday in quiet trade, as investors looked ahead to a slate of economic data reports and corporate earnings on Tuesday.

Earlier in the global day, China reported that its exports slid 15% from a year earlier in March, while imports dropped 12.7%, pointing to sluggish demand at home and abroad. The drop in exports was far below the median forecast of a 10% increase expected. The fall in imports was largely as anticipated.

The Chinese data helped boost the dollar, sending it higher against the euro and the yen, and against China’s yuan, which is only allowed to move 2% in either direction from a daily reference rate set by Chinese monetary authorities.

The euro EURUSD, -0.06% fell as low as $1.0521, but later recovered to trade around $1.0573. The single currency traded at $1.0606 late Friday.

In Japan, data showed that core machinery orders fell 0.4% in February from the previous month, a sign that Japanese companies remain cautious about ramping up spending.

The dollar initially gained against the yen, but reversed direction after an adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the dollar trading at 105 yen would be “appropriate,” and that the yen at its current level is too weak.

The dollar USDJPY, -0.01% traded at ¥120.11, little-changed from its Friday evening level.

The ICE dollar index DXY, +0.03% , a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.1% to 99.4820.

The disappointing data also pushed the commodity-linked Australian dollar AUDUSD, +0.02% lower to trade at $0.7589 from around $0.7680 late Friday in New York.

The weak Asian data came after Federal Reserve Bank officials made cases last week for the central bank to begin raising short-term interest rates as early as this summer. Their comments supported the dollar, which fell sharply after disappointing U.S. jobs data earlier this month.

At the same time, European government-bond yields have fallen on the back of the European Central Bank’s asset-buying program, making dollar-denominated assets more attractive. Money managers tend to shift their assets to countries where they can generate higher yields.

WSJ Market Wrap: April 10, 2015

After initially moving lower on concerns about the coming U.K. election, the pound GBPUSD, +0.02% rose to $1.4680 from $1.4633 late Friday.

Two important pieces of U.S. economic data, the producer-price index for final demand and retail sales for March, are expected at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Tuesday. Investors will be paying attention to both — especially retail sales, which declined in December, January and February.

U.S. stocks finished lower Monday as investors were concerned about weak quarterly earnings expected Tuesday from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Johnson & Johnson.