Dollar Sheds Ground Against Major Rivals
(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar turned weak against its major counterparts on Friday after data showing an uptick in unemployment rate in the month of October raised hopes the Fed will likely slow the pace of rate hikes in the coming months.
Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed that the unemployment rate increased to 3.7% in October from 3.5% a month earlier. Economists had expected unemployment rate to edge up to 3.6%.
The data also showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 261,000 jobs in October after surging by an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected employment to climb by 200,000 jobs.
The dollar was also weighed down speculation that China may loosen its zero-Covid strategy.
The dollar index dropped to 110.72, down nearly 2% from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 0.9964 from 0.9751, giving up more than 2%.
The dollar was weak against the Japanese currency, fetching 146.60 yen a unit, as against 148.28 yen on Thursday.
Against Pound Sterling, the dollar has dropped to 1.1377, losing nearly 2%.
Against the Aussie, the dollar is weak with the AUD-USD pair at 0.6476.
The Swiss franc has firmed to 0.9937 against the dollar from 1.0133, while the Loonie has dropped to 1.3478 from 1.3749 after crude oil prices rose sharply.