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Euro slips after US jobs data

Thursday, October 18 17:36:32

The euro slipped against the dollar today as uncertainty surrounding the U.S. job market overshadowed favourable demand at a Spanish bond sale.

The euro zone common currency rose to a five-month high against the yen after Spain sold more debt than it planned and its funding costs fell, causing its bond yields to fall as views on the country, which hung on to its investment-grade credit rating earlier this week, improved.

But as the U.S. session opened, data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, reversing a sharp decline in the prior week but still pointing to a labor market that is only slowly healing.

"The miss in weekly jobless claims undermines some of the recent risk appetite seen in markets," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. "It dashed some of the recent optimism."

The euro rose to 104.12 yen, its strongest since early May and remained higher on the day, last trading at 103.81 , up 0.3 percent.

Against the dollar, the euro fell 0.1 percent on the day to $1.3100, still within striking distance of Wednesday's one-month peak of $1.3139. Traders reported large option expiries at $1.3100 which may influence trade, keeping the euro close to that level.