LONDON (SHARECAST) - The dollar rallied to a two-week high against the yen on Friday following better than expected US job figures.
The greenback rose to an intra-day high of ¥78.87 before later trading at ¥78.65 a day after the Bank of Japan left its asset-purchase programme and interest-rate target unchanged. The central bank is under increasing pressure from the government to stimulate growth.
Meanwhile the US unemployment rate fell from 8.1% to 7.8% in September compared to market forecasts of 8.2%. The economy also created a bigger than expected 114,000 non-farm jobs in September.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six other currencies, traded at a low of 79.351 before later trading at around 79.376. For the week it was down around 0.7%.
The euro changed hands at $1.3032 from $1.3016 on Thursday and over the week rose 1.3%. Hopes that Spain will ask for a bailout soon buoyed the single currency and stock markets on Friday.
Sterling fell to $1.6142 from $1.6189 on Thursday and fell to a two-week low against the euro after the US employment figure.
The Australian dollar traded at $1.0177 from $1.0243 previously.
LONDON (SHARECAST) - The dollar rallied to a two-week high against the yen on Friday following better than expected US job figures.
