On Monday, the greenback held firm during early Asia trade, reacting to disappointing American jobs growth figures for August, which did little to change traders’ perception that the Fed is likely to increase interest rates in the nearer months.
Nonfarm payrolls edged up by 151,000 jobs the previous month, as the US Labor Department posted on Friday, below the 180,000 jobs expected by economists.
Average hourly wage earnings, a major gauge of inflationary pressure, edged up 0.1% and dropped short of market expectations of 0.2% surge.
Yet, with the average payroll soar for the last three months handily topping up to 200,000, market participants concluded that the data wouldn’t be a serious blow to the Fed’s intention to increase interest rates.
American Fed Funds futures price gave up revenues to stand almost intact from before the data, pricing in just more than a 20% probability of a lift this month and more than a 60% likelihood by the end of 2016.
