The US dollar was under pressure against Asian currencies on Friday following a mixed US jobs report that has investors questioning the likelihood of a September interest rate hike, while the euro was little changed ahead of this weekend’s Greek bailout referendum.
The dollar was mostly weaker against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It eased to 13,306 Indonesian rupiah from 13,352 rupiah on Thursday, to S$1.3499 from S$1.3516, to 45.11 Philippine pesos from 45.19 pesos, and to 1,120.83 won from 1,123.18 won.
The greenback also fell to NT$30.88 from NT$30.91 and to 63.37 Indian rupees from 63.6 rupees while it was unchanged at 33.78 Thai baht.
The Australian dollar weakened to US$0.7584 from US$76.47 after the country reported weaker-than-expected retail sales data, while the yuan slipped to ￥19.82 from ￥19.87.
On Thursday, the US Department of Labor said the world’s top economy added a solid 223,000 jobs last month, but hourly earnings were flat compared with May.
It also cut the estimates for job growth in April and May.
A strong reading would have lifted expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates soon.
“This data doesn’t indicate the market is just going to pile into the dollar... It just leads to more consolidation at current levels,” Lennon Sweeting, a dealer at USForex Inc, told Bloomberg News.
However, Bryn Mawr Trust chief investment officer Ernie Cecilia said the employment figures will do little to change the odds of a Fed rate rise this year, which is a plus for the dollar.
“The Fed is going to raise rates in the second half of this year and I do think the dollar will stay relatively strong,” he said.
Greeks go to the polls today to decide whether or not to accept its creditors’ bailout proposals, a vote European leaders have warned is effectively a referendum on whether or not to stay in the eurozone.
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