News: FOREX-Strong jobs gains send dollar to more than two-week highs

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    • U.S. jobs gains in June beat economists' expectations
    • Wage growth remained tepid in June
    • Euro hurt by weak German industrial orders

    (Adds Fed report to Congress; updates prices)

    The U.S. dollar gained against a basket of currencies to its highest levels in 2-1/2 weeks on Friday after data showed that U.S. job growth rebounded strongly in June.

    Non-farm payrolls increased by 224,000 jobs last month, the most in five months, and well above the 160,000 jobs forecast by economists.

    The strong gains came after job growth slowed sharply in May. The economy created 11,000 fewer jobs in April and May than previously reported, the government said on Friday.

    "You look at the U.S. number for today and there’s quite a bit of sticker shock with that," said Bipan Rai, North America head of fx strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto. “We think the sticker shock and thin liquidity is enough to drive the dollar a little bit firmer for today.”

    The data came as many traders and investors were away, a day after the July 4 holiday and ahead of the weekend.

    The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last at 97.311, up 0.56%, after earlier rising to 97.443, the highest level since June 19.

    Moderate wage gains in June, however, added to evidence that the economy is slowing while the increase in jobs was not enough to offset weakness in May.

    ”You did get a massive upside surprise but again that’s coming after a month in which you had a massive downside miss," Rai said. "If you take the two numbers together you are still averaging at a clip that’s slower than prior years’ growth."

    Average hourly earnings rose 6 cents, or 0.2%, after gaining 0.3% in May. That kept the annual increase in wages at 3.1% for a second straight month.

    The dollar has weakened from a two-year high reached in May on growing expectations that the Federal Reserve is closer to cutting interest rates.

    U.S. economic growth continued "at a solid pace" in the first half of the year though it likely weakened in recent months as higher tariffs depressed global trade and business investment weakened, the Fed said on Friday in its semi-annual report to Congress.

    The euro also came under pressure on Friday after data showed that German industrial orders fell far more than expected in May, and the Economy Ministry warned that this sector of Europe's largest economy was likely to remain weak in the coming months.

    A relentless slide in European government bond yields has forced investors to look for higher-yielding assets elsewhere, which is holding back a sustained euro rally against the greenback.

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    	Currency bid prices at 2:18PM (1818 GMT) 
    
     Description						 RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    																 Previous				   Change				  
    																 Session											
     Euro/Dollar						 EUR=		$1.1218		$1.1284	 -0.58%		 -2.19%	  +1.1287	 +1.1208 
     Dollar/Yen						  JPY=		108.5700	   107.7900	+0.72%		 -1.53%	  +108.6100   +107.7900 
     Euro/Yen							EURJPY=	 121.81		 121.67	  +0.12%		 -3.49%	  +121.9200   +121.6100 
     Dollar/Swiss						CHF=		0.9926		 0.9850	  +0.77%		 +1.14%	  +0.9931	 +0.9846 
     Sterling/Dollar					 GBP=		1.2520		 1.2576	  -0.45%		 -1.86%	  +1.2587	 +1.2482 
     Dollar/Canadian					 CAD=		1.3091		 1.3050	  +0.31%		 -4.00%	  +1.3136	 +1.3045 
     Australian/Dollar				   AUD=		0.6974		 0.7019	  -0.64%		 -1.06%	  +0.7029	 +0.6958 
     Euro/Swiss						  EURCHF=	 1.1135		 1.1114	  +0.19%		 -1.06%	  +1.1147	 +1.1110 
     Euro/Sterling					   EURGBP=	 0.8958		 0.8969	  -0.12%		 -0.29%	  +0.8984	 +0.8959 
     NZ Dollar/Dollar					NZD=		0.6619		 0.6686	  -1.00%		 -1.46%	  +0.6694	 +0.6603 
     Dollar/Norway					   NOK=		8.6231		 8.5308	  +1.08%		 -0.18%	  +8.6385	 +8.5277 
     Euro/Norway						 EURNOK=	 9.6744		 9.6278	  +0.48%		 -2.34%	  +9.6831	 +9.6237 
     Dollar/Sweden					   SEK=		9.4340		 9.3206	  +0.57%		 +5.25%	  +9.4628	 +9.3198 
     Euro/Sweden						 EURSEK=	 10.5830		10.5230	 +0.57%		 +3.11%	  +10.6067	+10.5177                    
 
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