The US dollar steadied with slight gains overall after last month’s US employment report delivered a little something for everyone, with robust jobs growth for US dollar bulls, while bears focused on the subdued increase in wages.
The greenback was mixed against its G10 peers. Choppy trading in the aftermath of the jobs data saw the US dollar rise to near a two-month high against the yen and the euro advance to its highest since late last month.
The US dollar posted a weekly gain of 0.4 percent, its biggest weekly rise since May, though only its second weekly gain in the past six.
Last month’s employment report showed US non-farm payrolls rose by 222,000 versus estimates for a gain of 178,000. The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 4.4 percent as the participation rate rose to 62.8 percent, signaling more people are looking for jobs.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent month-on-month, missing estimates for a gain of 0.3 percent.
In Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar on Friday fell against the US dollar, slipping NT$0.009 to close at NT$30.610. The NT dollar fell 0.6 percent against the greenback this week.
The Canadian dollar rose to its highest against the US dollar since September last year after the Canadian economy added 45,300 jobs last month, beating estimates for a gain of 10,000.
Traders are betting that the Bank of Canada might will rates by 25 basis points when it meets next week.
The Mexican peso led emerging currencies against the greenback, strengthening about 1 percent against the US dollar to erase its weekly loss.
SELL-OFF CONTINUES
Complicating trading, a global bond sell-off continued on Friday, albeit at a slower pace than earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to its highest since May 11, while the yield on the comparable 10-year bund was little changed, restoring some advantage to the US dollar.
The pound on Friday fell to its lowest since June 28 at US$1.2867 after weak industrial production data.
Euro was nursing slight losses in late trading after earlier rising to a new high for the day at US$1.1440. The common currency this week fell 0.2 percent against the US dollar.
The US dollar on Friday rose to ￥114.18, breaching ￥114 for the first time since May 11, amid steady two-way flows as macro and real-money demand met Japanese domestic sales, according to traders in New York. The US dollar rose 1.5 percent against the yen this week.
Additional reporting by CNA
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