Dollar falls on US NFP miss but losses were so far short-lived for most of major pairs
The US dollar fell across the board after US Non-Farm payrolls miss. December NFP was 148K, well below forecasted 190K and November’s figure at 252K, revised higher from 228K.
On the other side, Average Hourly Earnings came along with expectations at 0.3% but previous month’s figure was revised down to 0.1% from 0.2%.
Unemployment rate in the US remained unchanged at 4.1%.
Major currencies appreciated on weak US jobs data, but fresh gains were so far limited.
EURUSD accelerated to fresh session high at 1.2082 but remains under pivotal 1.2100 barrier, which so far resisted several attacks.
However, the single currency maintains firm bullish tone and approached 1.2100 zone on fresh acceleration, with weak US jobs data expected to keep strong pressure on the greenback and inflate Euro for final break higher.
British pound spiked to session high at 1.3581after US data but lacked momentum for eventual probe above 1.3600 barrier which limited upside attempts twice this week.
Cable remains well supported and keeps focus at 1.3600/55 targets, as sustained break here would signal continuation of pound’s broader recovery of post-Brexit fall.
The greenback dipped against yen on weak US jobs data, but pullback was contained by former pivotal barrier at 113.00, now acting as support. Subsequent bounce sidelined immediate downside risk as the dollar was deflated by weak jobs numbers, with today’s close above 113.00 handle, seen as bullish signal for extension of recovery rally from strong 112.00 support zone.
The US dollar registered the biggest losses after jobs data miss against its Canadian counterpart. USDCAD pair fell around 150 pips and continues to move lower, hitting the lowest levels since late Sep.
After the greenback was weakened by softer than expected US jobs data, the loonie was strongly boosted by soaring Canada’s employment data which showed 78.6K new jobs created in Dec in Canada, against 1K forecast.
The pair continues to move lower after important Fibo support at 1.2387 was taken out, with close below seen as fresh bearish signal.