Investing.com – The dollar slumped to a six-month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday, despite the release of a bullish jobs report, as investors continued to back the euro ahead of the French presidential election on Sunday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.04% to 98.57 by 12:55 EDT.
In what was a volatile day of trade for the dollar, a strong non-farm payrolls report failed to spark a recovery in the greenback, as it slumped to six-month lows.
Investors cheered a rebound in the U.S. labor market, after job creation surged in April, as the U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs, which confounded expectations for an increase of 185,000.
The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since May 2007, dropping to 4.4%, down from 4.5% in March.
EUR/USD continued its march higher, rising to a six-month high of $1.0996 while EUR/GBP traded flat at 0.8484, as investors initiated positions ahead of the French election runoff vote, scheduled for Sunday.
Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to defeat anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday, as France takes to the polls to vote for its next president.
Elsewhere, investors looked ahead to a raft of comments from Federal Reserve officials including Fed chair Janet Yellen and San Francisco Fed President John Williams.
Comments from Vice Fed chair Stanley Fisher on Friday, had little impact on markets as his speech failed to touch on issues relating to future monetary policy.
GBP/USD gained 0.05% to $1.2961, after UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s conservative party celebrated a string of victories in local UK elections.
USD/JPY added 0.21% to 112.72 while USD/CAD traded at $1.3697, down 0.39%.