Dollar up on euro, South Korean won

The US dollar gained on the euro Friday after the US Labor Department reported its official jobs numbers for December, showing that the United States economy only lost 524,000 jobs in December, many fewer than indicated in a private report issued earlier in the week.

In late morning trade in New York the greenback traded at $1.3506 to the euro.

At the same time, the yen gained on both the dollar and the euro, with the Japanese currency at ¥90.235 to the dollar and at ¥121.8733 to the euro.

The euro’s losses came as many expect that the European Central Bank will cut the Eurozone interest rate by half a percentage point to 2 percent when it meets next week.

Meanwhile, the Korean won lost more ground to the US dollar after the Bank of Korea cut interest rates to 2.5 percent, a record low and the fifth time it has cut rates recently in a continuing effort to rescue Korea’s economy as industrial production and exports falter.

At late morning in New York the won traded at 1,323.4 to the dollar.

Story link: Dollar up on euro, South Korean won