* U.S. jobs gains in June beat economists' expectations
* Wage growth remained tepid in the month
* Euro hurt by weak German industrial orders
(New throughout, updates trading and comments to U.S. market
open, new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar gained against
a basket of currencies to its highest levels in 2-1/2 weeks on
Friday after data showed that U.S. job growth rebounded strongly
in June.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 224,000 jobs last month, the
most in five months, and more than the 160,000 jobs forecast by
economists. It came after job growth slowed sharply in May. The economy
created 11,000 fewer jobs in April and May than previously
reported, the government said on Friday. "You look at the U.S. number for today and there's quite a
bit of sticker shock with that," said Bipan Rai, North American
head of fx strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto. “We
think the sticker shock and thin liquidity is enough to drive
the dollar a little bit firmer for today.”
The data came as many traders and investors were away, a day
after the July 4 holiday and before the weekend.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies
was last at 97.261, the highest since June 19 and up 0.51% on
the day.
Moderate wage gains, however, added to evidence that the
economy is slowing while the increase in jobs was also not
enough to offset weakness in May.
”You did get a massive upside surprise but again that's
coming after a month in which you had a massive downside miss,"
Rai said. "If you take the two numbers together you are still
averaging at a clip that's slower than prior years' growth."
Average hourly earnings rose six cents or 0.2% after gaining
0.3% in May. That kept the annual increase in wages at 3.1% for
a second straight month.
The dollar has weakened from a two-year high reached in May
on growing expectations that the Federal Reserve is closer to
cutting interest rates.
A relentless slide in European government bond yields,
however, has at the same time forced investors to look for
higher yielding assets elsewhere, which is holding back a
sustained euro rally against the greenback.
The euro also came under pressure on Friday after data
showed that German industrial orders fell far more than expected
in May and the Economy Ministry warned on Friday that this
sector of Europe's largest economy was likely to remain weak in
the coming months. Currency bid prices at 9:19AM (1319 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1230 $1.1284 -0.48% -2.08% +1.1287 +1.1230
Dollar/Yen JPY= 108.4300 107.7900 +0.59% -1.66% +108.5000 +107.7900
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 121.76 121.67 +0.07% -3.53% +121.9200 +121.6100
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9915 0.9850 +0.66% +1.03% +0.9924 +0.9846
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2510 1.2576 -0.52% -1.94% +1.2587 +1.2511
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3102 1.3050 +0.40% -3.92% +1.3127 +1.3045
Australian/Dollar AUD= 0.6987 0.7019 -0.46% -0.88% +0.7029 +0.6989
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1134 1.1114 +0.18% -1.07% +1.1147 +1.1110
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8973 0.8969 +0.04% -0.12% +0.8982 +0.8959
NZ Dollar/Dollar NZD= 0.6629 0.6686 -0.85% -1.31% +0.6694 +0.6629
Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.5872 8.5308 +0.66% -0.60% +8.5889 +8.5277
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.6422 9.6278 +0.15% -2.66% +9.6499 +9.6237
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.4084 9.3206 +0.40% +4.96% +9.4109 +9.3198
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.5650 10.5230 +0.40% +2.93% +10.5710 +10.5177
(Editing by Bill Trott)