U.S. Dollar Climbs After Upbeat Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against its major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as non-farm payrolls data came in stronger than expected in December.

Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment surged by 216,000 jobs in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 173,000 jobs in November.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 170,000 jobs compared to the addition of 199,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate came in at 3.7 percent in December, unchanged from November. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to inch up to 3.8 percent.

Strong jobs data added to recent fears that the Federal Reserve is not likely to begin lowering interest rates as soon as previously anticipated.

Treasury yields jumped, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note climbing above 4.0 percent.

The greenback advanced to a 10-day high of 0.8576 against the franc and a 3-day high of 1.2611 against the pound, from yesterday's close of 0.8502 and 1.2681, respectively. The greenback may find resistance around 0.90 against the franc and 1.24 against the pound.

The greenback moved up to a fresh 3-week high of 1.0876 against the euro and more than a 3-week high of 145.97 against the yen, from Thursday's close of 1.0944 and 144.62, respectively. The greenback is poised to find resistance around 1.06 against the euro and 148.00 against the yen.

The greenback firmed to a 3-week high of 0.6181 against the kiwi, more than 2-week high of 1.3399 against the loonie and more than a 3-week high of 0.6640 against the aussie, from its previous close of 0.6234, 1.3350 and 0.6706, respectively. The next possible resistance for the currency is seen around 0.60 against the kiwi, 1.37 against the loonie and 0.64 against the aussie.