Dollar Advances Against Currencies

The dollar advanced against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners as a government report showed employers eliminated fewer jobs in July than economists forecast.

The yen dropped against all of its major counterparts as the payroll report indicated a recovery in the world’s largest economy, encouraging Japanese investors to buy higher-yielding assets overseas. U.S. Treasury yields rose, making U.S. assets more attractive to international investors , Bloomberg reports.

However, recent upbeat releases earlier this week on housing and manufacturing also helped the greenback, they added. And U.S. stock futures point to a higher opening on Wall Street ,Reuters reports.

The greenback bought 96.37 yen, from 95.59 late Thursday. The report also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.4% from 9.5% in June. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch predicted payrolls would fall by 275,000 and saw a 9.7% unemployment rate , MarketWatch reports.