The Dollar, which had barely budged in the past 11 sessions, came to life today following the release of stronger-than-expected US employment figures for June. The Dollar is up 0.5% in trade-weighted terms, with markets seemingly less confident that the Federal Reserve will have to cut rates aggressively in coming months. The US economy created 224,000 jobs in June, above the 160,000 consensus forecast and perhaps more importantly in line with a historical trend of strong job creation.
The Dollar rally has been broad-based, with GBP/USD temporarily plummeting below 1.25 for the first time since 11 December. The Euro was not immune and also had to contend with the 2.2% mom contraction in German factory orders in May, and at the time of writing EUR/USD is heading towards a 3-week low of 1.12. Similarly, the USD/CHF cross has breached the 0.99 level for the first time since 20 June.
