News: FOREX-Dollar inches lower vs yen, Swiss franc amid Iran sanctions

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    • U.S payrolls weaker than expected in December
    • Yen, Swiss franc draw bids after Iran sanctions

    (Adds new comment, updates prices)

    The U.S. dollar edged lower from four-week highs against the safe-haven Japanese yen and slipped versus the Swiss franc on Friday as possible renewed U.S.-Iran tensions weighed on market sentiment.

    The greenback was also pressured by weaker-than-expected U.S. payrolls data for December, which followed a batch of strong economic figures. The report, however, was unlikely to sway the Federal Reserve from its neutral stance on interest rates.

    The dollar index still posted its best weekly performance in two months. Over the last few sessions, the currency market has been badgered by geopolitical tension. The yen and Swiss franc had fallen from highs hit last week after the United States and Iran, in recent comments, moved away from an all-out conflict.

    Concerns grew, however, after the United States imposed more sanctions on Iran on Friday in response to its retaliatory missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq and vowed to tighten the screws further on the Iranian economy if Tehran continued to engage in what it described as terrorist acts.

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an appearance at the White House, said he had "no doubt" that Iran had full intention of killing U.S. forces in a missile attack on a base in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

    "The fact that the U.S. is still sort of acting aggressively toward Iran and still taking a hard line, helped create demand for safe havens," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto.

    Wall Street shares fell, while U.S. yields sank as investors flocked to the Treasury market. The renewed U.S.-Iran tension came on the heels of a soft U.S. non-farm payrolls report. The dollar lost steam after the jobs data.

    U.S. data showed non-farm payrolls increased by 145,000 last month, lower than market forecasts of 164,000. Data for October and November was revised to show 14,000 fewer jobs added than previously reported.

    More importantly, average hourly earnings rose just 0.1%, after increasing 0.3% in November. Markets were expecting a 0.3% rise.

    "The silver lining here is that a job and income growth slowdown has already been incorporated into our 2020 economic outlook. So while the December jobs and income data was somewhat worse than we forecast, the 2020 outlook for a U.S. GDP growth slowdown, but no recession, remains intact," said Scott Anderson, chief economist, at Bank of the West.

    Against a basket of currencies .DXY , the dollar fell 0.1% to 97.30. The dollar index hit a two-week high of 97.584 during the session.

    The dollar also eased from a four-week peak against the yen to trade slightly lower on the day at 109.49 yen JPY= .

    The greenback also dipped versus the Swiss franc to 0.9727 CHF= .

    	======================================================== 
    	Currency bid prices at 4:08 PM (2108 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change				  
    											  Session											
     Euro/Dollar	  EUR=		$1.1122		$1.1105	 +0.15%		 -0.79%	  +1.1129	 +1.1086 
     Dollar/Yen	   JPY=		109.4700	   109.5100	-0.04%		 +0.56%	  +109.6900   +109.4500 
     Euro/Yen		 EURJPY=	 121.76		 121.62	  +0.12%		 -0.16%	  +121.8300   +121.5300 
     Dollar/Swiss	 CHF=		0.9726		 0.9731	  -0.05%		 +0.50%	  +0.9762	 +0.9721 
     Sterling/Dollar  GBP=		1.3055		 1.3065	  -0.08%		 -1.54%	  +1.3095	 +1.3043 
     Dollar/Canadian  CAD=		1.3060		 1.3054	  +0.05%		 +0.57%	  +1.3075	 +1.3029 
     Australian/Doll  AUD=		0.6904		 0.6857	  +0.69%		 -1.67%	  +0.6911	 +0.6851 
     ar																							  
    
     Euro/Swiss	   EURCHF=	 1.0818		 1.0807	  +0.10%		 -0.31%	  +1.0829	 +1.0805 
     Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	 0.8519		 0.8499	  +0.24%		 +0.77%	  +0.8521	 +0.8481 
     NZ			   NZD=		0.6636		 0.6614	  +0.33%		 -1.48%	  +0.6645	 +0.6603 
     Dollar/Dollar																				   
    
     Dollar/Norway	NOK=		8.8870		 8.8803	  +0.08%		 +1.24%	  +8.9125	 +8.8729 
     Euro/Norway	  EURNOK=	 9.8869		 9.8652	  +0.22%		 +0.50%	  +9.8889	 +9.8527 
     Dollar/Sweden	SEK=		9.5003		 9.4886	  +0.25%		 +1.64%	  +9.5216	 +9.4801 
     Euro/Sweden	  EURSEK=	 10.5679		10.5417	 +0.25%		 +0.94%	  +10.5687	+10.5316 
    	<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
    Dollar performance	https://tmsnrt.rs/2R5Kinw 
    
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