(Updates to after U.S. jobs report, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
The U.S. dollar strengthened against major currencies on Friday after U.S. data showing employers hired more workers than expected in September, suggesting the Federal Reserve will likely stick to its aggressive tightening policy for now.
The dollar pared losses against the Japanese yen JPY= and was last flat, while the euro EUR=EBS extended losses against the dollar and was last down 0.3% at $0.9764. The yen remained close to a 24-year low of 145.90 hit last month, which had prompted an intervention by Japanese authorities to shore up the fragile currency.
"The U.S. dollar is a crowded position, and any sign of U.S. economic weakness will weigh heavily on the dollar, but it certainly didn't come with nonfarm payrolls," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive in Toronto.
"The dollar just got a little bit more crowded with this data," he said. "The U.S. economy is strong." Nonfarm payrolls increased by 263,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report. Data for August was unrevised to show 315,000 jobs added as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 250,000 job gains, with estimates ranging from as low as 127,000 to as high as 375,000.
Overnight, a number of Fed officials reinforced the view that the central bank is nowhere near finished with raising rates as it seeks to tame inflation, and interest rates are expected to go up further.
U.S. inflation data, due next week, will be watched closely as well and could prove influential in setting investors' expectations for the Fed, according to strategists.
The U.S. central bank, in an effort to tame inflation, has hiked its policy rate from near-zero at the beginning of this year to the current range of 3.00% to 3.25%, and last month signaled more large increases were on the way this year.
A U.S. dollar index =USD which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies was last up 0.1%. The index is up about 18% for the year so far.
Sterling GBP=D3 was down 0.1% at $1.1148, having fallen 1.4% overnight. It jumped earlier this week, after the British government reversed a planned cut to the highest rate of income tax.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 9:22AM (1322 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index =USD112.3900 112.2500 +0.14% 17.485% +112.8400 +111.9400 Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS$0.9764 $0.9793 -0.29% -14.11% +$0.9817 +$0.9727 Dollar/Yen JPY=EBS145.0200 145.1400 -0.09% +25.96% +145.3350 +144.5500 Euro/Yen EURJPY=141.60 142.11 -0.36% +8.66% +142.2100 +141.3000 Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS0.9923 0.9905 +0.18% +8.78% +0.9953 +0.9882 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3$1.1148 $1.1160 -0.08% -17.55% +$1.1225 +$1.1092 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D31.3713 1.3748 -0.28% +8.43% +1.3760 +1.3703 Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3$0.6403 $0.6411 -0.09% -11.89% +$0.6432 +$0.6370 Euro/Swiss EURCHF=0.9687 0.9696 -0.09% -6.58% +0.9715 +0.9681 Euro/Sterling EURGBP=0.8755 0.8770 -0.17% +4.23% +0.8790 +0.8737 NZ NZD=D3Dollar/Dollar $0.5643 $0.5655 -0.14% -17.50% +$0.5673 +$0.5610 Dollar/Norway NOK=D310.6900 10.7100 +0.24% +21.87% +10.7565 +10.6940 Euro/Norway EURNOK=10.4368 10.4909 -0.52% +4.28% +10.5129 +10.4355 Dollar/Sweden SEK=11.1363 11.1186 -0.42% +23.49% +11.1986 +11.0790 Euro/Sweden EURSEK=10.8681 10.9134 -0.42% +6.24% +10.9401 +10.8550 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
