United States: The dollar rose against major currencies on Friday after US data revealed that US employers hired more workers than expected last September, indicating that the Federal Reserve is likely to stick with its monetary tightening policy.
The dollar trimmed its losses against the Japanese yen and stabilized in the latest trading, while the euro continued to achieve losses and fell in the latest trading 0.3 percent to 0.9764 against the dollar.
The Japanese yen remained close to its lowest level in 24 years at 145.90 recorded last month, which prompted the Japanese authorities to intervene to support the fragile currency.
“A large number of investors are holding the dollar, and any sign of weakness in the US economy will weigh heavily on the dollar, but it certainly did not come from non-farm payrolls,” said Adam Patton, senior currency strategist at Forex Live in Toronto.
“The dollar got some support from these data…the US economy is strong,” he added.
The US Labor Department said in its jobs report on Friday that the number of non-farm payrolls increased by 263,000 jobs last month. August data, which showed an increase of 315,000 jobs during the month, was not revised.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected jobs to increase by 250,000, with estimates ranging from 127,000 at the minimum to 375,000 at the maximum.
A number of Federal Reserve officials supported the view that the central bank has not finished raising interest rates as it seeks to rein in inflation, and interest rates are expected to rise further.
The dollar index, which measures the value of the US currency against a basket of other currencies, rose 0.1% in recent trading. The index has risen about 18 percent since the start of the year.
Sterling fell 0.1% to 11148 after falling 1.4% overnight. It had jumped against the dollar earlier in the week after the British government backed down on a scheduled cut for the highest income tax bracket.
