US Dollar Slides After Jobs Report Misses Sharply in June
June payrolls came in at 57K versus 110K expected, hammering the dollar and sending gold surging to $4,113.
The US dollar fell sharply Thursday after June non-farm payrolls grew just 57,000 — barely half the 110,000 economists forecast — rattling currency markets ahead of a holiday-shortened trading session and raising fresh questions about the strength of the American labor market.
The initial market reaction was textbook: bonds rallied, stocks climbed, and the dollar sold off. But the moves quickly blurred as holiday-thinned liquidity muddied directional flows. The S&P 500 ended the session down 0.3%, while gold surged $83 to $4,113 and US 10-year Treasury yields edged up just one basis point to 4.48%.
Read more Securitize Eyes SPAC IPO to Push Asset Tokenization Mainstream →
The report's internals made interpretation difficult. Job creation fell well short despite a JOLTS reading earlier this week that hit a two-year high — a contradiction that left traders guessing. Especially puzzling were steep losses in hospitality employment right before the World Cup, a period when that sector typically expands. Those mixed signals may explain why the initial risk-on trade faded fast.
The weak print is unlikely to push the Federal Reserve toward rate cuts in the near term. Fed's Daly noted that US investment growth remains exceedingly strong, underscoring the central bank's broadly neutral posture. The euro briefly spiked to a session high of 1.1472 before surrendering about 40 pips, and USD/JPY touched 160.65 before recovering to 161.14 as Japanese officials appeared to engage in stealth intervention — making the yen Thursday's top-performing major currency.
With US markets closing early Friday for the nation's 250th anniversary, thin liquidity could amplify any follow-through moves. Continue reading at Forexlive.
