The US dollar depreciated to a 2-month low against major currencies on Friday, with U.S. election vote counts still underway and investors expect the US dollar to depreciate further.
Investors are betting that Democrat Joe Biden will be the next U.S. president but Republicans are expected to retain Senate power. This is seen as making it difficult for Democrats to approve larger fiscal spending packages.
Joe Biden so far still topped the polls compared to President Donald Trump and now some important countries are still counting votes. On that basis there is high uncertainty as long as the results are announced.
At the same time, the U.S. economy recorded better-than-expected job growth in October and the unemployment rate dropped sharply as the U.S. faced increasing challenges of rising Covid-19 infections and its impact on economic recovery.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Friday that NFB readings increased by 638,000 and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.9%. Economists even predicted an additional 530,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.7%.
The US dollar index, which measures the green back against major currencies, declined 0.25% to 92.430 as of 111.15 p.m. Positive labor readings have to some extent contributed to the rise of the US dollar.
As of last week, the US dollar index has declined by 1.6%, the biggest decline in almost 4 months.
