Investing.com - The dollar erased losses and bounced off a one-week trough against the other major currencies on Friday, despite the release of disappointing U.S. economic reports.
EUR/USD slid 0.29% to at 1.1164, erasing earlier gains and after hitting session highs of 1.1252.
The U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders increased by 1.9% in July, slightly below forecasts for a gain of 2.0%.
The report came after the U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 151,000 jobs in August, disappointing expectations for an increase of 180,000. The number of jobs created increased by 275,000 in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 255,000 gain.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9% this month, confounding expectations for a downtick to 4.8%.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose 0.1% in August, below expectations for a 0.2% increase and after a 0.3% gain the previous month.
On a more positive note, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $39.47 billion in July from $44.66 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $44.50 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to marrow to $42.70 billion in July.
GBP/USD advanced 0.31% at a fresh one-month high of 1.3309.
Research group Markit said on Friday thats its U.K. construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.2 in August from 45.9 the previous month, beating expectations for an increase to 46.1.
The data came a day after Markit said its U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to a 10-month high this month, easing concerns over a potential economic slowdown in the U.K. following the June 23 vote to leave the European Union.
USD/JPY jumped 0.90% to trade at a five-week high of 104.14, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9804.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars pared gains, with AUD/USD steady at 0.7555 and with NZD/USD almost unchanged at 0.7284.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD dropped 0.67% to trade at 1.3012, off Thursday’s three-week peak of 1.3149.
Also Friday, Statistics Canada said the country’s trade deficit narrowed to C$2.49 billion in July from C$3.97 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of C$3.63 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit C$3.25 billion in July.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.14% at 95.80, off a one-week low of 95.18 hit earlier in the session.