Washington (awp/afp) – The dollar gained further ground on Monday, still driven by American employment data published on Friday, reinforcing the prospect of a monetary policy gap between the United States and the rest of the great powers .
Around 8:50 p.m. GMT, the dollar rose 0.26% against the single currency, to $1.0217. Earlier in the day, the greenback rose to $1.0178 per euro. It also climbed 0.25% against the pound, to 1.2176 dollars.
The Dollar index, which compares the American currency to a basket of other major currencies, gained 0.20% to 109.89 points, close to its peak reached on Friday.
Friday, “the explosion in employment figures (…) sowed new doubts in the minds of investors regarding a significant reduction in interest rates from the American Central Bank (Fed) this year”, observed Monex USA analysts in a note.
In the last month of the year, 256,000 jobs were created in the United States, up compared to the previous month, and well beyond the 165,000 jobs projected by the Bloomberg consensus.
The unemployment rate also fell slightly in December, to 4.1%, according to data from the US Department of Labor.
These figures took the markets by surprise on Friday, suggesting a pause in the rate cut schedule of the American Central Bank (Fed).
-The dollar is thus pushed by an “American economy which is experiencing (a) higher growth than almost anywhere else”, observed Christopher Vecchio of Tastylive to AFP.
“While other central banks are talking about reducing rates and easing their policy, the Fed is being more cautious,” added the analyst, according to whom these “interest rate divergences remain favorable to the dollar.”
Another driver of the dollar’s frantic run in recent months, the imminent arrival of Donald Trump as president of the United States portends inflationary policies likely to delay cuts in American interest rates.
Parity between the euro and the dollar is likely to be “soon on the agenda”, said Mr Vecchio.
Cours de lundi Cours de vendredi 20H50 GMT 22H00 GMT EUR/USD 1,0217 1,0244 EUR/JPY 161,06 161,59 EUR/CHF 0,9380 0,9387 EUR/GBP 0,8391 0,8392 USD/JPY 157,64 157,73 USD/CHF 0,9182 0,9163 GBP/USD 1,2176 1,2207
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