MW: Dollar pares gainsafter payrolls unexpectedly fall
By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar pared gains versus major counterparts on Friday, though still traded near a seven-month high, after a report showed the U.S. economy shed 20,000 jobs in January, while economists expected the economy to add jobs last month. The dollar index [$dxy], which tracks the currency against a basket of rivals, rose to 80.084, compared to 79.882 in late New York trading on Thursday. The report also said the unemployment rate fell to 9.7%, while economists expected the rate to remain at 10%. The dollar extended a rally in European and Asian trading hours that started Thursday amid heightening fears that the U.S. economic recovery wouldn't be so strong and as credit risks in some European countries jumped, increasing demand for the relative safe haven of the U.S. currency.
