By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) – The dollar fell to a six-week low on Friday after data showed the world’s largest economy created fewer jobs than expected last month, bolstering expectations. that the Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates steady at its December meeting.
* The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against six major currencies, fell 1.1% to 105.03 units, after sinking to 104.93, the lowest level since September 20. The index recorded the largest one days down since July.
* For the week, the dollar fell 1.4%, also its worst performance since July.
* The euro rose 1.1% to $ 1.0735 and, thanks to the previous week’s gains, added a weekly increase of 1.6%, the largest in four months.
* Data showed that US nonfarm payrolls rose by 150,000 jobs last month. September numbers were revised down to show 297,000 jobs were created instead of 336,000 as previously reported.
* “The slowdown in (jobs) is likely to keep the Federal Reserve on the sidelines going forward. One of its main concerns is an overheated economy, especially after last quarter’s GDP expansion, and this suggests that problem is gone,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts.
* “Slow growth is still growth, and this jobs report is still in the sweet spot. However, we see signs of more weakness ahead,” he added.
* Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.8% to 149.18 yen, ending a tumultuous week, in which the Japanese currency hit a one-year low against the US currency and a 15-year low against the euro.
* The yen’s previous decline came after the Bank of Japan revised its yield curve control policy on Tuesday, but not as much as markets had expected.
* The fall in the dollar reflects the decline in bond yields in the United States. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to a five-week low of 4.484% and is on track for a decline of more than 30 basis points, the biggest one-week decline since March 2020.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Additional reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York, Alun John in London and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa and Manuel FarÃas)
