An employment report waited during all the week and released today frustrated analysts bringing weaker-than-expected figures for the U.S. economy, pulling the dollar down versus most of the 16 main traded currencies.
After the non-farm payrolls report indicated that employers cut more jobs than forecasts suggested, the demand for dollar-priced and high-yielding currencies declined significantly in foreign-exchange markets as traders become more risk averse interpreting the pessimist data indicated in the U.S. employment figures. The euro gained sharply versus the dollar following the negative employment report, but declined in the hours following the publication. Speculations regarding eventual Federal Reserve rate hikes were significantly impacted after payrolls’ numbers were published, affecting the mid-term outlook for the greenback.
Analysts received the non-farm payrolls report with surprise, as speculations regarding its result brought the dollar’s attractiveness up during the past days and after the actual figures came out today, the dollar’s sentiment has certainly suffered. If negative news continue to be published, odds that the Fed will raise rates will decline, consequently bringing down the U.S. currency rates.
USD/JPY traded at 92.81 as of 16:11 GMT from a previous rate of 93.41 twelve hours earlier. EUR/USD climbed to 1.4338 from 1.4311 in the intraday comparison.
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