The US dollar had an amazing trading week, reaching the highest level in more than a decade against the euro, thanks to positive economic data from the United States and quantitative easing in Europe.
The monetary policy announcement of the European Central Bank was positive for the dollar, driving the US currency to a new multi-year low against the euro. While the ECB left its policy unchanged, the central bank announced that a start of quantitative easing program as soon as the next week.
Yet an even more bullish factor for the greenback was the release of non-farm payrolls. Economists predicted the indicator to be good, but the actual report was beyond even the optimistic expectations, resulting in massive gains for the dollar. The weekly gains against the euro and the Great Britain pound were especially big — 3 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.
EUR/USD sank from 1.1181 to 1.0849 (the lowest since September 2003) and GBP/USD tumbled from 1.5415 to 1.5050 over the week. USD/JPY advanced from 119.70 to 120.68.
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