Dollar edges up; Aussie and Kiwi gain slightly on U.S. and China data

Friday,   03-Jul-2020   02:16 PM (IST)

The dollar edged up in early London trading on Friday and currency traders’ risk appetite was boosted only slightly by better-than-expected jobs data in the United States, as surging coronavirus cases continued to taper market optimism. U.S. payrolls surged on Thursday but the reaction in currencies was limited. Even after two months of job recovery from May, the U.S. economy has recovered just over a third of an historic plunge of 20.787 million jobs lost in April. Broader market sentiment improved in the U.S. session after the jobs data and overnight as Asian shares rallied to a four-month high following a brisk pickup in Chinese service sector activity. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose slightly in early London trading, up less than 0.1% at 97.306 at 0740 GMT. It is on track for its biggest weekly fall since the first week of June. Riskier currencies edged up, with the New Zealand dollar up 0.3% at 0.652 versus the U.S. dollar and the Australian dollar up 0.1% at 0.69305. The euro was down slightly against the dollar, at 1.1226 . It gained against the safe Swiss franc and fell versus the commodity-driven Norwegian crown. Traders have been balancing hopes for an economic recovery with surging coronavirus infections, particularly in the U.S., which has seen record-high spikes in cases. U.S. states have delayed and in some cases reversed plans to let stores reopen and activities resume. Relations between the United States and China are also in focus over China’s strategy in Hong Kong. The U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation on Thursday to penalise banks doing business with Chinese officials who help implement Beijing’s new national security law for Hong Kong. With U.S. markets closed for a public holiday on Friday, and no significant data releases, analysts expect a quiet day.