Dollar rises most vs yen in eight weeks

The dollar gained the most in eight weeks against the yen as a report showed US companies added almost three times jobs in December as forecast.

The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso advanced versus the yen on evidence of North American recovery before the US government’s payrolls figures due later this week. The euro slipped against the pound on concerns Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis will persist after a sale of Portuguese six-month bills had higher yields than in a previous auction.

“That was a positive shocker if there ever was one,” said Boris Schlossberg, director of research at the online currency trader GFT Forex in New York, referring to the hiring report. “The North American bloc is going to trade positively off US data.”

 

The dollar advanced 1.1 per cent to 82.91 yen at 8:48 am in New York, from 82.04 yen yesterday. It rose as much as 1.3 per cent in the biggest intraday gain since November 10 and touched 83.07 yen, the highest level since December 24. The euro fell 1.1 per cent to $1.3165, from $1.3308. The single currency traded at 109.19 yen, compared with 109.17 yen.

Company employment increased by 297,000 in December after a revised gain of 92,000 in the previous month, ADP Employer Services reported. The median forecast of 33 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a gain of 100,000.

A projected 138,000 gain in December non-farm payrolls is the median forecast of 74 economists in a Bloomberg News survey, before the January 7 payrolls report from the Labour Department. The jobless rate may have eased to 9.7 per cent from 9.8 per cent.

The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index, which covers about 90 per cent of the economy, increased in December to 55.7, the highest level since May 2006, another survey showed.