Investing.com - The dollar edged higher against the other majors currencies on Friday, after a string of U.S. data painted a mixed picture of the economy, while investors still remained cautious ahead of next week’s U.S. presidential election.
EUR/USD fell 0.12% to 1.1091, pulling away from Thursday’s three-and-a-half week high of 1.1128.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 161,000 jobs in October, disappointing expectations for an increase of 175,000. However, September’s figure was revised to a 191,000 gain from a previously estimated rise of 156,000.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.9% last month from 5.0% in September, in line with expectations.
Data also showed that U.S. average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in October, exceeding expectations for an uptick of 0.3%.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $36.44 billion in September from $40.46 billion in October. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit $37.80 billion in September.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after the FBI said last Friday that it would review more emails related to Hillary Clinton's private email use while she was secretary of state.
The news sparked fresh uncertainty over Mrs. Clinton’s election prospects ahead of the November 8 vote, amid fears over the implications of a victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Eslewhere, GBP/USD edged up 0.14% to 1.2476, close to the previous session’s one-month peak of 1.2496.
The pound remained supported after the UK high court ruled on Thursday that the government does not have the authority to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the UK’s exit from the EU without a parliamentary vote.
USD/JPY added 0.17% to 103.16, off Thursday’s one-month low of 102.54, while USD/CHF inched 0.09% lower to 0.9730.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.13% at 0.7673 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.35% to 0.7306.
Earlier Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that retail sales rose 0.6% in September, beating expectations for a 0.4% gain.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.37% to trade at 1.3446, the highest since March.
Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people rose by 43,900 in October, beating expectations for a 10,000 decline, after an increase of 67,200 the previous month.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.0% last month, as expected.
However, Canada’s trade deficit widened to C$4.08 billion in September from C$1.99 billion the previous month, confounding expectations for a deficit of C$1.70 billion.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.09% at 97.28, just off Thursday’s three-week lows of 97.07.