FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The euro advanced on Thursday after a weak US labor market report. The shared currency rose to $1.1445. In the morning it was still trading below $1.14. The European Central Bank set the reference rate at $1.1399 (Wednesday: $1.1383). The dollar was thus priced at 0.8772 (0.8785).
The weak US jobs report dampened expectations for further key interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve later this year, weighing on the dollar. In the United States, employment growth in June fell well short of expectations. In addition, fewer jobs were created in the previous two months than anticipated.
‘The job figures coming in below expectations are likely to put an end for now to the recurring debate over a near-term Fed rate hike,’ said Bernd Weidensteiner, an economist at Commerzbank. ‘On top of that, inflation is also likely to ease again.’ Most recently, expectations of further US rate hikes later this year had still supported the dollar.
Against other major currencies, the ECB set the reference rates for one euro at 0.85665 (0.85973) British pounds, 184.19 (185.21) Japanese yen and 0.9200 (0.9234) Swiss francs. Gold was priced at $4,129 per troy ounce (about 31.1 grams). That was about $98 more than the previous day./jsl/he
