Dollar Mixed Following U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls Data

The U.S. dollar came in mixed against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, after a data showed that the nation's job growth slowed much more than expected in September amid the persistence of the pandemic and deadlock over stimulus package.

Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment rose by 661,000 jobs in September after spiking by an upwardly revised 1.489 million jobs in August.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 850,000 jobs compared to the jump of 1.371 million jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The unemployment rate slid to 7.9 percent in September from 8.4 percent in August. The unemployment rate was expected to dip to 8.2 percent.

The House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan on Thursday night. The bill will go to the Republican-held Senate and could be rejected.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Democrats and the Trump administration still remained apart on issues including funding for state and local governments.

The safe-haven dollar strengthened in the Asian session as U.S. President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19.

The greenback held steady against the yen, after falling to a 9-day low of 104.94 at 1:45 am ET. The pair had closed Thursday's deals at 105.50.

Data from the Cabinet Office showed that Japan's consumer confidence improved to the highest level in seven months in September.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the consumer confidence index increased to 32.7 in September from 29.3 in August.

The USD/CHF pair hovered at a 2-day high of 0.9219. At yesterday's trading close, the pair was quoted at 0.9185. Should the greenback strengthens further, it is likely to test resistance around the 0.94 region.

The greenback remained higher against the euro, with the pair trading at 1.1707. This may be compared to a 2-day high of 1.1696 set at 1:00 am ET. The pair was worth 1.1744 when it closed deals on Thursday. Next key resistance for the greenback is likely seen around the 1.14 level.

Flash data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone consumer prices declined for the second straight month in September.

Consumer prices decreased 0.3 percent on a yearly basis, following a 0.2 percent drop in August. Prices were expected to fall again by 0.2 percent.

The greenback dropped to 1.2954 against the pound, from an early high of 1.2837, and held steady afterwards. The pound-greenback pair had ended yesterday's trading session at 1.2884.

The U.S. factory orders for August and University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for September will be featured shortly.

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