- U.S. job growth decelerates in July but beats forecast
- Dollar rebounds after hitting 2-year low on Thursday
(Adds analysis, background, updates prices)
The U.S. dollar bounced on Friday after U.S. job growth for July helped ease some investor worries on the U.S. labor market, but the currency logged a seventh straight week of declines.
The U.S. Labor Department's report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.76 million in July. While that was more than the 1.6 million economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast, it was still sharply lower than the record 4.8 million in June.
"The employment report allayed the market's downside job fears, allowing the Dollar to rally broadly through the N.Y. session," Ron Simpson, director of currency research at Action Economics in Tampa, Florida, wrote in a note following the data.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose in the wake of the report and hit its highest in three days. It was last up 0.6% at 93.410 =USD .
The U.S. dollar index's rebound on Friday may not signal an end to its recent weakness, some analysts said.
Despite Friday's gains, the dollar index, which hit a two-year low on Thursday, was on pace to finish the week down 0.05%. That is its seventh straight weekly loss, the longest such streak in a decade.
"One month's survey isn't going to be enough to meaningfully arrest the fall in the dollar," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.
Investors also kept an eye on ongoing stimulus talks in Washington.
U.S. Republicans and Democrats have so far failed to reach an agreement on the cost of fiscal stimulus measures that many investors say is necessary to prevent the economy from losing more momentum.
The euro has retreated from recent highs, and was last down 0.8% at $1.1785 EUR=EBS , while the British pound fell 0.7% to $1.3057 GBP=D3 .
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar fell on concerns about worsening U.S.-Chinese relations and the Reserve Bank of Australia's downbeat assessment of the local economy. It was last down 1.1% at 0.7157 AUD=D3 .
The dollar is at its most oversold level in over 40 years, investment bank Morgan Stanley said on Friday, adding it had now shifted from its dollar-bearish stance and turned "tactically neutral" on the U.S. currency.
Speculators raised their net short dollar positions in the latest week, data on Friday showed.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 4:35PM (2035 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1785 $1.1875 -0.76% +5.13% +1.1883 +1.1756 Dollar/Yen JPY= 105.9400 105.5400 +0.38% -2.68% +106.0500 +105.4900 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.86 125.34 -0.38% +2.39% +125.3900 +124.4700 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9125 0.9097 +0.31% -5.71% +0.9157 +0.9093 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3057 1.3146 -0.68% -1.52% +1.3153 +1.3011 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3379 1.3304 +0.56% +3.03% +1.3398 +1.3284 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7157 0.7233 -1.05% +1.95% +0.7243 +0.7146 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0754 1.0803 -0.45% -0.90% +1.0812 +1.0754 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9025 0.9034 -0.10% +6.75% +0.9043 +0.9017 NZ NZD= 0.6598 0.6686 -1.32% -2.05% +0.6690 +0.6590 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 9.0465 8.9681 +0.87% +3.05% +9.0774 +8.9629 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.6620 10.6476 +0.14% +8.38% +10.6935 +10.6210 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.7406 8.6845 -0.06% -6.49% +8.7754 +8.6767 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.3142 10.3209 -0.06% -1.48% +10.3297 +10.3010 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GRAPHIC: U.S. dollar 2020 performance https://tmsnrt.rs/2XBYQ2mGRAPHIC: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E U.S. Dollar Index & CFTC Positions https://tmsnrt.rs/31zchBe
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