Dollar Consolidates After Strong Gains; Nonfarm Payrolls Due
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – The dollar was marginally lower in early European trade Friday, consolidating after the previous session’s strong gains and ahead of the release of key U.S. employment data which could sway the Federal Reserve’s thinking over interest rate hikes.
At 2:55 AM ET (0755 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% lower at 94.302, after rallying 0.5% on Thursday. That lifted it into the positive for the week, adding 0.2%.
Additionally, EUR/USD rose 0.1% to 1.1562, after dropping 0.5% during the previous session, while USD/JPY fell 0.1% to 113.68.
The Fed announced the tapering of its bond-buying program earlier this week, as widely expected, but added that it would be “patient” in deciding when to raise its benchmark overnight interest rate.
While these comments were taken as being dovish by the market, the Federal Reserve is still seen as being…
