Today we observe a strengthening in the American dollar due to a positive economic report. The nonfarm payrolls for the month of June increased to their highest in five months, reaching 224,000, against the forecasted 160,000. This is giving investors some pause, after a rise in the unemployment rate made them wary of an interest rate decrease as soon as this month. Now the payrolls report is pointing in the opposite direction and hopes of an interest rate adjustment are dwindling.
Based on the overall signals provided by the most recent economic reports from the United States, right now the most likely scenario is that we could see an interest rate decrease this month, but it would be by 25 basis points, instead of 50 like suggested earlier.
Overall, this news had a positive effect on the USD. Today the dollar index climbed to 97.215 today. This is lower than Friday’s peak but it’s still a very good level that indicates a strong dollar.
The euro retreated to 1.1226 against the USD today. The Japanese yen also gave way, allowing the USD/JPY to reach as high as 108.33.
