Investing.com – The U.S. dollar Friday was set to post a second week of losses in a row despite analysts downplaying expectations the Federal Reserve won’t hike rates this year after the economy created more jobs than expected last month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.03% to 95.55.
Nonfarm payrolls grew by 304,000 last month, up from 222,000 the prior month. The gain was well above economists' forecast of 165,000.
The jobless rate unexpectedly ticked higher to 4% in January from 3.9% in December. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings slowed to a rate of 0.1%, below expectations for a 0.3% rise.
Analysts continued to tout a healthy backdrop for the labor market, saying the jobs report would strengthen the outlook for an interest rate hike this year.
"While it makes sense for the Fed to wait and see how its 2018 rate hikes impact the economy in the first half of this year, strong job creation and wage growth suggests consumer spending should still be robust and that policymakers should be able to hike rates once more this year," CIBC said.
Elsewhere, EUR/USD rose 0.17% $1.1465 following data showing the pace of Eurozone inflation improved
GBP/USD fell 0.14% to $1.3082, while USD/CAD fell 0.38 to C$1.3076 as oil prices surged, propping up the loonie, following a fall in rig counts and signs that U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan exports have trimmed supply.
USD/JPY rose 0.62% to Y109.55 as demand for the safe-haven yen fell on the back of improving sentiment on trade.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday he was confident "every point (on trade) will be agreed to" when he meets with President Xi Jinping at an as-yet-unscheduled date. The United States and China had their second-round of high level trade talks this week, and the U.S. trade team is expected to head to Beijing in mid-February for follow-up talks.