The US dollar slid to a new all-time low against the euro on Friday, after a weaker-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls number set off another big dollar drop.
The greenback's decline accelerated following reports of a series of explosions in Madrid, which turned out not to have caused any injuries. Friday's fresh declines came at a time when many investors believed there would be a correction from weeks of dollar losses.
Late afternoon, the euro was at US$1.3455, from US$1.3239 late Thursday in New York and just off the US$1.3460 session high and new historical peak.
The dollar was at ¥102.04 from ¥103.07 late Thursday and slightly below its four-and-a-half-year low of ¥101.86. The dollar was also at 1.1302 Swiss francs from SF1.1518 and the British pound was at a fresh 12-year high at US$1.9437, from US$1.9226 Thursday.
The dollar had edged lower overnight and dropped sharply after the US Labor Department reported last month's non-farm payrolls rose by a disappointing 112,000 against expectations of 200,000. The October and September payrolls data was also revised downward, though the unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 percent, from 5.5 percent.
The dollar then staged a brief partial recovery, but was soon heading lower again despite a fresh drop in oil prices and a stronger-than-expected November reading for the Institute for Supply Management Non-manufacturing index, which came in at 61.3 against a 59.0 consensus forecast.
The US currency finally crashed through the all-time low against the euro it reached in Thursday's Asian trading, after reports of the blasts in Madrid filtered through.
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