Investing.com - The euro moved higher against the dollar on Friday, rebounding from 26-month lows as a softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report prompted investors to book profits in the greenback following its recent rally.
The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs in October, missing expectations for jobs growth of 231,000.
September’s figure was revised up to 256,000 from a previously reported 248,000 and August’s figure was also revised up to 203,000 from 180,000, pointing to underlying strength in the labor market.
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to a fresh six-year low of 5.8% from 5.9% in September.
EUR/USD initially touched a fresh 26-month low of 1.2358 following the release of the data, before rising 0.67% to 1.2454 in late trade. For the week, the pair was still down 0.38%.
The data prompted investors to sell the dollar to lock in gains following its recent rally but did little to alter expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates ahead of its major peers.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.63% to 87.66, off the four-and-a-half year peaks of 88.31 hit earlier in the session.
The single currency remained under pressure after the European Central Bank reiterated its pledge on Thursday to implement further stimulus measures if needed to combat persistently low levels of inflation in the euro area.
President Mario Draghi said the ECB would soon start purchases of asset-backed securities. The program will run for two years, and have a “sizeable impact” on the ECB’s balance sheet Draghi said, moving it towards its 2012 levels.
Elsewhere, the euro was slightly higher against the yen late Friday, with EUR/JPY edging up 0.12% to 142.73.
In the week ahead, investors will be awaiting Friday’s report on third quarter growth from the euro zone. Reports on U.S. retail sales and consumer confidence on Friday will also be in focus.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets. The guide skips Monday and Tuesday as there are no relevant events on these days.
Wednesday, November 12
The euro zone is to produce data on industrial production.
Thursday, November 13
The U.S. is to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims.
Friday, November 14
The euro zone is to release preliminary data on third quarter gross domestic product, while Germany, France and Italy are also to release individual reports. The euro area is also to release revised data on consumer price inflation.
The U.S. is to round up the week with data on retail sales and import prices as well as preliminary data on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan.