Dollar Gains On Slumping Euro Despite Weak Jobs Report
The dollar was generally stronger on Friday, bolstered by its safe haven appeal amid evidence of economic weakness on both sides of the Atlantic. Traders weighed a disturbing jobs report from the U.S, where anemic private sector job growth was offset by a drop in government jobs.
Figures released Friday by the Labor Department showed that there were no new jobs created for the month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent.
Still, concerns that problems in Europe far outweigh the hurdles facing the U.S. economy helped the dollar extend its weekly gains versus the slumping euro.
The dollar rose a 3-week high of $1.4184 versus the euro, having wobbled around these levels for the past few months.
There was little movement versus the sterling, with dollar holding near $1.62. Same with the yen, leaving the buck just above last month’s record low of Y75.93.
The buck spiked higher to C$0.9845 versus Canada’s petro-linked loonie as the price of oil tumbled on demand concerns.
The day’s big winner was the Swiss franc, with soared in early dealing before leveling off on talk of intervention from Swiss authorities.
The dollar dropped to CHF 0.7720 but improved to CHF 0.7870 going into the long weekend.
U.S. markets are closed Monday for Labor Day.
Lifted by rising energy prices, Euro zone producer price inflation accelerated in July as expected. However, core inflation stabilised, after slowing in the preceding few months, easing the concern over the underlying price pressure in the economy.
Producer prices grew at a pace of 6.1 percent in July from a year ago, data from Eurostat showed Friday. The increase was bigger than the 5.9 percent rise logged for June. The annual increase matched economists’ expectations.
