FOREX-Dollar advances after robust U.S. jobs report, supports Fed on hold

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
Updated

* U.S. economy creates 266,000 jobs in November * Jobs data supports Fed pausing rate cuts * U.S. economy still slowing down, despite jobs - analyst * Dollar on track for worst weekly loss since mid-October (Adds comment, more details on jobs report, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The dollar rose on Friday after five straight days of losses, bolstered by data showing the U.S. economy created way more jobs than expected in November, backing the Federal Reserve's stance of keeping interest rates on hold after cutting them three times this year. Gains in the dollar though were modest despite a robust jobs number. The greenback has been pummeled all week due to a slew of weaker-than-expected U.S. data in manufacturing and services with investors coming to grips with the reality that the economy is slowing down. Friday's jobs report provided a respite from all the pessimism on the economy amid poor numbers and persistent uncertainty on U.S.-China trade negotiations. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 266,000 jobs last month, with manufacturing recouping all 43,000 positions lost in October. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 180,000 jobs in November. Despite Friday's gains however, the dollar was still on track for its worst weekly percentage loss since mid-October. "No question today's jobs report is strong, but is it strong enough for people to change their views about the economy?" said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York. "I still think the U.S. economy is weakening and I don't think today's number is going to change people's expectations for Q4 GDP (gross domestic product), which I think is headed toward 1%," he added. Earlier in the week, U.S. data showed dismal figures on private payrolls and services activity, and a weak manufacturing activity index and construction spending figures In midmorning trading, the dollar index gained 0.3% to 97.674. For the week, the dollar was down 0.6%, its largest weekly loss in 1-1/2 months. The dollar was up slightly against the yen at 108.84 yen, but still poised for its worst weekly performance in nearly two months. The euro, on the other hand, fell to 1.1074, down 0.3%. Sterling cooled off a bit on Friday, down 0.3% at $1.3126 and little changed against the euro at 84.36 pence. The pound, though, was close to a 2-1/2-year high as traders grew more confident uncertainty over Brexit would end soon. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 9:40AM (1440 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1073 $1.1102 -0.26% -3.45% +1.1109 +1.1069 Dollar/Yen JPY= 108.8000 108.7500 +0.05% -1.32% +108.9100 +108.5600 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 120.49 120.75 -0.22% -4.54% +120.7900 +120.4100 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9899 0.9870 +0.29% +0.87% +0.9917 +0.9865 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3128 1.3155 -0.21% +2.91% +1.3165 +1.3112 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3249 1.3173 +0.58% -2.85% +1.3259 +1.3171 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6844 0.6833 +0.16% -2.91% +0.6857 +0.6831 ar Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0964 1.0961 +0.03% -2.58% +1.0980 +1.0956 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8433 0.8438 -0.06% -6.13% +0.8467 +0.8433 NZ NZD= 0.6564 0.6541 +0.35% -2.28% +0.6573 +0.6542 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1187 9.1370 -0.20% +5.56% +9.1541 +9.1173 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.0999 10.1438 -0.43% +1.96% +10.1540 +10.0990 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.4672 9.4892 -0.55% +5.62% +9.5017 +9.4676 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.4856 10.5435 -0.55% +2.16% +10.5457 +10.4860 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; editing by John Stonestreet and Jonathan Oatis)