U.S. Dollar Rises After Nonfarm Payrolls Data, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's Speech

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar advanced against its major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as traders cheered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments and solid jobs data for March.

Citing a highly uncertain outlook due in part to President Donald Trump's new tariffs, Powell indicated the central bank will wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to interest rates.

Powell noted in remarks at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing's annual conference that it will very difficult to assess the likely economic effects of the higher tariffs until there is greater certainty about the details.

However, Powell said it is becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.

"The size and duration of these effects remain uncertain," Powell said. "While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent."

Data from the Labor Department showed that employment in the U.S. surged much more than expected in the month of March.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 228,000 jobs in March after climbing by a downwardly revised 117,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 135,000 jobs compared to the addition of 151,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in March from 4.1 percent in February. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

The greenback rose to 1.0923 against the euro and 1.4253 against the loonie. The currency is seen finding resistance around 1.06 against the euro and 1.46 against the loonie.

The greenback advanced to more than a 4-week high of 1.2856 against the pound. If the currency continues its uptrend, 1.27 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The greenback edged up to 0.8616 against the franc and 147.42 against the yen, from its early 6-month lows of 0.8476 and 144.54, respectively. The currency is poised to challenge resistance around 0.90 against the franc and 153.00 against the yen.

The greenback climbed to a 5-year high of 0.5986 against the aussie and a 2-month high of 0.5551 against the kiwi. The greenback may face resistance around 0.58 against the aussie and 0.535 against the kiwi.