Currencies

Dollar rebounds after US services, manufacturing data

Key Points
  • Dollar nears highest since July
  • ISM non-manufacturing, factory orders push dollar higher
  • Bitcoin hits all-time high of $7,500
Frank van den Bergh | E+ | Getty Images

The dollar rose broadly on Friday after the release of U.S. factory orders and services sector data that beat estimates, reversing an earlier slide after an underwhelming October jobs report.

The euro turned negative against the dollar, falling to its lowest level of the day after the U.S. factory orders and ISM non-manufacturing PMI data, while the dollar turned positive against the Japanese , erasing earlier losses.

The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to its highest level since 2005. New orders for U.S.-made goods rose for the second straight month in September and orders for core capital goods surpassed expectations.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, rose to its highest since Oct. 27, closing in on a nearly four-month peak. The dollar was last trading at 94.97.

The dollar had earlier fallen to its lows of the day after the release of October U.S. non-farm payrolls, which came in below expectations.

The jobs report showed its largest gain since July 2016, but missed economists' expectations for an increase of 310,000 jobs, following a particularly weak reading in September.

Analysts said the report lacked the numbers to increase long-term inflation expectations.

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"From a dollar perspective the December hike is a done deal, but the Fed is planning to hike three times next year and we didn't get a hawkish shift in terms of a new Fed chair," said Vassili Serebriakov, FX Strategist at Credit Agricole. "So with the kind of inflation numbers were getting now, three hikes is starting to look optimistic."

Higher U.S. overnight interest rates, as set by the Fed, would make the dollar more attractive for investors to hold, driving up its value.

The move higher put the dollar index on course to post its third straight weekly increase, adding to its largest weekly percentage gain of the year last week. October was the dollar's best monthly performance since February.

Digital currency bitcoin took another leap higher on Thursday, rocketing above $7,000 for the first time after a more than tenfold increase in value over the past year.

It hit as high as $7,500 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange on Thursday.

People should not be surprised by this move, they should try to understand it before dismissing it," said Rahul Sood, CEO of Unikrn, a U.S. sports betting digital platform. "The fact is there is a finite amount of Bitcoin in the world."