Friday, August 3, 2007

Dollar Slid after Payrolls

The dollar slid broadly after US Labor Department July employment report showed new added jobs were less than expected, squeezing out the possibility of a rate hike by the Fed this year and raising speculation of a rate cut.

US non-farm payrolls came out at 92k, far below the estimate of 130k and a reading of 132k in the previous month. Unemployment rate increased from 4.5% to 4.6% in July. The labor market, one of the few fundamentals that always support the dollar in the past, turned from robust to modest, adding to the bearish sentiment on the dollar.

Besides, US non-manufacturing ISM fell from 60.7 to 55.8 in July, below the estimate of 59. The dollar extended its loss against the euro, sterling and yen.

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