The dollar extended its winning streak against the yen and paused versus the euro and sterling Friday morning. Traders showed little immediate reaction to the release of US employment data for November that came relatively in line with expectations. U.S. employers added 94,000 jobs in November and the national unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent. The numbers are likely to fuel speculation that the Fed will cut rates by a modest quarter percentage point next week. The dollar moved slightly lower against the euro Friday morning, bouncing back and forth after the jobs report before levelling off. Overall, the dollar was range-bound between 1.46 and 1.4670 through mid-morning. On Thursday, the dollar hit a 4-week high of 1.4524. The dollar rose to a 3 1/2 week high versus the yen, reaching 111.72, extending a 3-session uptrend. Japan's revised third quarter gross domestic product was up 0.4 percent compared to the second quarter, the government said Friday, down from the preliminary report of +0.6 percent. The dollar steadied against the sterling after the release of the November jobs report, paring some its its losses from earlier in the day. The dollar slipped to 2.0345 before firming up slightly to trade at 2.03. The dollar has levelled off since hitting a multi-week high of 2.0178 on Thursday.
December 7, 2007 9:06 AM