Dollar recovers from US jobs data shock

The US dollar began to recover from a sharp decline that has been accompanying it since the opening of weekly trading on Monday, continuing to be affected by the employment data released on Friday to shed light on a deterioration in labour market conditions that would have favoured speculation of starting to cut interest rates soon.

But the markets’ shift in focus to inflation data due later this week has enabled the currency to regain the uptrend on hopes investors will come in the opposite direction to the employment data and highlight the continued risks of higher inflation.

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of major currencies, rose to 102.83 points compared to the last daily close, which recorded 102.71 points.

The index fell to its lowest level on the first trading day of last week at 102.64 points, compared to the highest level of 102.93 points.

The US employment data highlighted that the increase in job growth was not reflected in the labor market in the form of a rise in wage growth in addition to the rise in the unemployment rate in the United States, which are negative signals that would support the Federal Reserve on its way to lowering interest rates.