Friday, 1 Apr 2011

U.S. Dollar Continues to Struggle

The dollar pared gains against the euro and Japanese yen Friday after the latest comments from a Federal Reserve official, considered to represent the consensus view of the central bank's policy committee, came off more dovish than those of several of his peers. The Dollar is currently trading lower against the EUR by nearly 50 pips at 1.4215.

Earlier, the greenback had jumped to its highs of the day after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in March, more than economists expected. Nonfarm payrolls rose 216,000 last month, the largest increase since May. The gain built on the 194,000 new positions added in February.

The payrolls report confirmed the jobs market was strengthening despite signs economic activity had been held back early in the year by bad weather and rising energy prices. Still, the data was likely not strong enough to push the Federal Reserve off its ultra-easy monetary policy course.