RTRS: Dollar advances across the board on U.S. jobs data
(Reuters) - The dollar gained broadly on Friday, hitting five-week highs against the yen and a six-week peak versus the euro, as better-than-expected U.S. jobs data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve would scale back its asset purchases sooner than expected.
With the report, analysts expect the Fed to start winding down its quantitative easing program as early as September.
Almost all the components of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for June were positive for the economy, suggesting that the labor market was stabilizing. Employers added 195,000 jobs, compared with forecasts of 165,000, while the unemployment rate was steady at 7.6 percent as more people entered the workforce.
What's more, the U.S. government revised payrolls for April and May to show 70,000 more jobs created than previously reported.
"The data is strong enough that it validates the ECB's (European Central Bank) and BOE's (Bank of England) attempts to try to distinguish their policy actions from those in the U.S.," said Alan Ruskin, head of G10 FX strategy at Deutsche Bank in New York.
Both the ECB and BoE pledged on Thursday to keep monetary policy accommodative for an extended period.
The U.S. jobs report was also consistent with the medium-term broad-based stronger U.S. dollar trend, Ruskin added.
The euro fell as low as $1.2805 against the dollar, its weakest since May 20. It was last at $1.2823, down 0.7 percent.
Against the yen, the dollar touched a peak of 101.13 yen, its highest since May 31. It was last at 100.87, up 0.8 percent.
The greenback's gains pushed the dollar index to a high of 84.530 .DXY, a nearly three-year peak. By early New York trading, the dollar index was up 1.4 percent at 84.387.