The US dollar edged higher on Friday, recovering from a retreat from multi-month highs in the previous session, as traders digested disappointing labor market data.
At 12:25 PM Saudi time, the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was up 0.1% at 99.700, remaining within the same trading range it has been in since August.
Focus on Labor Market Data
The dollar fell on Thursday after Challenger layoff data showed that U.S. job cuts surged to their highest level in two decades in October, with more than 150,000 jobs lost.
The data raised concerns about a rapid slowdown in the labor market and reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again to prevent further weakness in the labor market.
“After being needed for a week, the dollar finally pulled back yesterday,” analysts at ING said in a note. “The catalyst appears to have been some of the Challenger layoff data and also some alternative data suggesting that the October non-farm payrolls report, which we were supposed to see today, should have fallen by 9,000.”
The dollar had been rising, supported by growing bets that the Fed would not cut interest rates in December after Chairman Jerome Powell warned that a cut at the final meeting of the year was not a certainty.
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