Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rallied to fresh four-year highs against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, as the release of strong U.S. employment report boosted demand for the greenback.
In a report, the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, more than the expected 215,000 increase. The number of jobs created in August was revised to 180,000 from a previous estimate of 142,000.
In addition, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.9% last month, from 6.1% in August. Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.10 billion in August from $40.30 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $40.60 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to $40.90 billion in August.
EUR/USD hit fresh two-year lows of 1.2535, and was last down 0.94% to trade at 1.2549.
The euro shrugged off data showing that euro zone retail sales rose 1.2% in August, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.1%, after 0.4% fall in July.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased by 1.9% in August, more than the expected 0.5% rise. July's figure was revised to a 0.5% gain from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.
Earlier Friday, Markit said the euro zone services purchasing managers' index ticked down to 52.4 in September from 52.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Markit also reported that Germany's services PMI rose to 55.7 last month from a reading of 55.4 in August, while France's services PMI fell to 48.4 in September from 49.4 in August.
GBP/USD declined 0.75% to 11-month lows at 1.6022, after Markit said the U.K. services PMI slipped to 58.7 in September from a reading of 60.5 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 59.1 last month.
USD/JPY jumped 0.90% to 109.42, while USD/CHF rallied 1.10% to fresh 14-month highs at 0.9638.
Elsewhere, AUD/USD retreated 0.87% to 0.8725 and NZD/USD tumbled 1.07% to trade at 0.7815, while USD/CAD climbed 0.54% to new six-month highs at 1.1220.
Official data showed that Canada's trade balance swung into a deficit of C$0.61 billion in August from a surplus of C$2.20 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of C$2.58 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to narrow to C$1.50 billion in August.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, jumped 1.01% to 86.60, the highest level since June 2010.