The U.S. currency was performing quite well during most of this week’s session as optimism regarding the U.S. economy was high, but the employment data published on Friday forced the greenback down versus most of the main traded currencies, as figures came much below forecasts.
The dollar posted the biggest weekly in two months as a non-farm payrolls report indicated more jobs cuts than expected, frustrating forecasts and declining odds that the Federal Reserve will lift stimulus and start a series of interest rate hikes that would happen sooner-than-expected, as some speculations suggested, if the economy accelerated at a faster pace. Among the most important traded currencies, U.K.’s pound was the only not able to beat the dollar, as the recession in the U.K. continues a reality, with quantitative measures used by the Bank of England being ineffective so far and the parliament failing to reach a consensus regarding the nation’s budget deficit.
Analysts were frustrated as this week’s U.S. data didn’t meet their expectations, and traders sold dollar positions after the non-farm payrolls report were published, considering that the greenback had been trading high during most of the week as optimism was intense. Next week will provide a monthly retail sales report, which will be the next key-report to determine the dollar’s trends.
EUR/USD closed the week at 1.4408 after being traded around the 1.4300 level before the payrolls report came to public this Friday.
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