The dollar fell across the board on Friday after posting gains the last three weeks as a solid, but not spectacular, US non-farm payrolls report spurred doubts about the path of rate increases next year. Analysts, however, said the dollar's weakness was just a short-term correction, a much-needed one, after a strong rally in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election on November 8.
The dollar index was on track for its first weekly fall in four weeks against a basket of currencies, but was still up more than 2 percent for the year. The US currency also slid against the yen, hitting session lows after the jobs report, but was nonetheless on pace to show gains for a fourth consecutive week. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 178,000 jobs last month, but data for September and October were revised to show that fewer jobs created than previously reported.
"Overall, we think the results are good enough to meet the Fed's low thresholds to hike rates later this month," said Marvin Loh, global markets strategist at BNY Mellon in Boston. "The results also indicate an economy moving along in a new normal manner, which should be able to eke out a near 2 percent growth rate for the full year, generally in line with the Fed's expectations."
But the report did not provide much clarity on the path of future interest rate increases, he said. "We think that there are enough yellow flags to support the slow and shallow path endorsed by the Fed, which expected only 2 hikes this past September," Loh added. In mid-morning trade, the dollar index fell 0.3 percent to 100.77. It was down 0.8 percent for the week. Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.6 percent to 113.42 yen. The euro, on the other hand, was little changed against the dollar at $1.0661, ahead of the Italian referendum over the weekend.
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