Dollar up versus euro
NEW YORK: The dollar continued its rally against the euro on Friday after a report showed the unemployment rate remained steady in September, even while US employers shed jobs.
US employers cut payrolls at the steepest rate in 5-1/2 years last month, according to a Labor Department report, slashing an unexpectedly large 159,000 nonfarm jobs as employment contracted for a ninth straight month. But foreign exchange investors focused on the unemployment rate which was unchanged from August at 6.1 percent.
The report added to the optimism surrounding the dollar which was already on track for its best weekly gain versus the euro in the single currency’s lifetime after the European Central Bank opened the door to rate cuts on Thursday. In early New York trade, the euro fell 0.4 percent on the day to $1.3758, having plumbed a 13-month trough of around $1.3743 on Thursday. The single currency was on track for its worst weekly percentage loss since its inception in 1999.
Against the yen, the single currency was down at 144.71 yen, but held above a two-year trough of around 144.56 yen, according to electronic trading platform EBS, touched earlier in the global session. The dollar eased 0.2 percent to 105.16 yen. The dollar index, which gauges its performance against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.3 percent at 80.704, within easy reach of the 13-month peak of 80.794 hit in the previous session.
The dollar index, up 4.448 percent this week, was on track for its best weekly gain since September 1992 at current prices, according to Reuters data. The dollar has surged this week as the international nature of the financial market crisis was highlighted by the rescue of some major European lenders including Fortis this week. reuters
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