The US Dollar strengthened against the majority of its most traded peers after payrolls data came in above forecasts, increasing speculation that the Federal Reserve may choose to cut its monetary stimulus programme earlier than expected.
According to the Washington based Labour Department, the US economy created an extra 204,000 jobs in October, beating economist forecasts for a rise of 120,000. The overall unemployment rate increased to 7.3% in the same month but this did not impact the currency due to it being expected by the markets.
The better than expected data caused investors to increase their bets that the Federal Reserve could choose to taper its $85 billion per month quantitative easing programme sooner than expected as recent data releases have shown that the world’s largest economy wasn’t as badly impacted by the 16-day long government shutdown and concerns over the debt ceiling. GDP data released yesterday also came in better than expected.
GDP in the world’s largest economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.8% in the July to September quarter, its quickest pace since the third quarter of 2012. The figure was an improvement on the second quarters reading of 2.5% and beat forecasts for a rise of 2%.
The Pound meanwhile was weakened earlier in the session after official data showed that the UK’s trade deficit widened in September. The nation’s trade gap widened to £9.816 billion, compared with £9.557 billion in August.
The Canadian Dollar has weakened for a second consecutive day against the US Dollar and was little moved against the Pound after data showed that the nation’s unemployment rate held at its lowest level since 2008. Workers designated by Statistics Canada as employees rose by 25,200 and the self-employed category decreased by 12,000.
The currency fell against its US counterpart over the increased speculation regarding possible cuts to the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing programme.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6211
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7451
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0460
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6098
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3420
Current Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates:
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9559
The Canadian Dollar /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7123
The Canadian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5938
The Pound Sterling/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6840
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0460
The Euro/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4038
(Correct as of 15:30 pm GMT)
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