USD helped by oil prices, jobs report

The US dollar was stronger Wednesday as oil prices fell further and on a private report that new jobs were added in the United States after recent losses.

At late morning in New York, the dollar traded at $1.5557 to the euro while it took ¥108.2200 to buy a greenback.

The Australia and New Zealand dollars were also both lower in relation to the US dollar.

The Aussie dropped after home building approvals were down for a second month in a row, while in New Zealand, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia said that the weak economy there will work to bring inflation down.

By around 11 a.m. in New York the Aussie was worth 94.25 cents US, while it took 73.39 cents US to buy a New Zealand dollar.

The South African rand declined versus the US dollar and the euro as inflation there grew to an annual rate of 11.6 percent and as importers there bought foreign currencies, with the rand trading at $7.3965 to the US dollar and at R11.511 to the euro in late morning trade in New York.

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