US Dollar Soft After Underwhelming NFP, Trade War Escalation

The US dollar dropped against its most-traded peers today following the release of surprisingly underwhelming jobs data and signs of escalation of trade tensions between the United States and China.

US nonfarm payrolls grew by just 103,000 jobs in March, far slower than the increase analysts had predicted — by 188,000. Furthermore, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, while experts had promised a small decrease to 4.0%. Wage growth was the only indicator that hit the mark — 0.3%, exactly as economists had predicted.

US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs of $100 billion on Chinese goods in response to the increase of duties on US goods that China announced after the United States had slapped tariffs on Chinese imports. China reacted to the threat by saying that it will retaliate in the similar fashion.

EUR/USD rose from 1.2239 to 1.2270 as of 17:16 GMT today. GBP/USD rallied from 1.4002 to 1.4080. USD/JPY declined from 107.38 to 107.05.

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