Print Print 2020-04-04

Early trade in New York: Dollar rises against majors

The dollar resumed its climb against major currencies on Friday as investors took refuge in safety bids amid worsening economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Published 04 Apr, 2020 12:00am

The dollar resumed its climb against major currencies on Friday as investors took refuge in safety bids amid worsening economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
"As we see poor data coming in from Europe, UK, Italy, if you're trying to be rushing anywhere, it would be US Treasuries and the US dollar as a safe haven," said John Doyle, vice president of dealing and trading at Tempus Inc in Washington.
The dollar largely shrugged off the US non-farm payrolls report that showed massive job losses of 701,000 last month, compared with expectations of 100,000 lost employment.
March's job contraction abruptly ended historic 113 straight months of employment growth. The Labor Department also February's number to 275,000 job gains. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 3.5% the previous month.
In mid-morning trading, the US dollar index was up 0.6% at 100.78. The index was is on course for a near 2.5% gain over the week, having whipsawed last month from highs on a scramble for cash before slumping as the US Federal Reserve flooded the market with liquidity.
The Japanese yen, Swiss franc, euro, sterling and the Australian and New Zealand dollars all also lost ground as the dollar strengthened across the board.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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