Sharjah 24 – BNA: The dollar hit a four-month high versus the euro on Tuesday after upbeat U.S. jobs data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve could soon start tapering its massive bond-buying programme.
Analysts said the dollar was getting support from rising U.S. bond yields, as the prospect of reduced Fed stimulus weakened bond prices, Reuters reports.
U.S. job openings, a measure of labour demand, hit a record high in June while hiring also increased, the Labour Department said in a monthly survey on Monday.
That followed Friday's non-farm payroll report showing jobs increased by 943,000 in July, above the 870,000 forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
The dollar index strengthened on Friday and Monday, and reached an 18-day high of 93.02 during Asian trading hours on Tuesday.
At 0850 GMT, it was flat at 93.035.
The euro hit a four-month low against the dollar, with the pair changing hands at $1.1726.
The Swiss franc and Japanese yen were both down 0.1% against the dollar, as demand for safe-haven currencies fell.
Attention now turns to U.S. consumer inflation data due on Wednesday, which could provide more cues on the timing of the Fed's bond-purchase taper.
Although there is talk among analysts of the market being "data-driven", U.S. jobs market and inflation statistics are difficult to interpret, Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) Ulrich Leuchtmann wrote in a client note.
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