US Dollar climbs after upbeat employment report

• Financial

On Friday, the US Dollar Index (DXY) measured against a basket of six major currencies on an average rose sharply, as an upbeat employment report from the US Labour Department had stoked frets that the US Fed might stay on its hawkish rate-hike path, which in effect could obliviate the possibilities of a soft landing, eventually spurring up the safe-haven bid of the greenback.

Earlier in the day, the Labour department’s closely-watched non-farm report had unveiled that the US employers had created 517,000 jobs last month, while wage growth surged by 0.3 per cent in January, repercussion of which had stoked frets of a more aggressive Fed which alongside a recession in a near-term.

Dollar surges after upbeat job data

Citing statisitcs, as of Friday’s late-afternoon US trading hour, the US Dollar Index (DXY) measured against a basket of six major currencies on an average soared 1.12 per cent to 102.92, marking off the highest level since January 12, while the bloc’s common currency Euro shared among 19-member states, tumbled as much as 0.98 per cent to $1.0804 against the greenback.

Apart from that, the US Dollar gained 1.82 per cent against the Japanese Yen to 131.20 yen per Dollar, the strongest level since January 18, while British Pound pummelled 1.39 per cent to $1.2055, remarking the weakest level since January 6 and the worst intra-session loss since December 15.

Meanwhile, addressing to a hawkish US Fed which could push the US economy to an impending recession in a near-term, a chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global FX in New York, Marc Chandler said, “After the Fed meeting it looked like markets had the advantage - it was still pricing in a rate cut, they took interest rates down, and they took the dollar down, and now I think 48 hours later the Fed looks like they might have the upper hand again”