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The dollar, suddenly the star of global markets, surged to its highest in nine-months versus the euro and sterling, bolstered by its status as the world's de facto reserve currency.
With debt problems plaguing the euro area and lingering fears of a double-dip recession spooking traders, the safe haven buck has skyrocketed versus its major European counterparts this week. Stocks suffered their biggest one-day losses in a month on Thursday.
The dollar was on pause an hour before the release of the most pivotal economic data of the week -- the government's monthly jobs report for January is on tap at 8:30 am ET.
Economists expect that the U.S. economy created 15,000 jobs during the month, which wold be an improvement from the 85,000 jobs lost in December. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 10%. Any deviation or disappointment might aggravate the short-term weakness in the global markets further.
The dollar jumped to 1.3646 versus the euro, hitting its highest levels since last May. The buck has risen nearly 15 cents since hitting a 15-month low near 1.5100 late in November.
German industrial production declined 2.6% in December from the previous month, reversing an increase of 0.7% in November, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology said Friday.
The dollar also rose to its highest level since May against the sterling, touching 1.5653 before leveling off for the jobs report. Over the past two weeks, the dollar has picked up about eight cents.
Commodity prices were hammered as the buck ran up against the euro. Subsequently, the dollar rose to a 3-month high of C$1.0780 against the petro-linked loonie.
A report showing that Canadian employment rose for the fourth time in six months failed to provide much support for the loonie.
Canadian employment increased by 43,000 in January, all in part time, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage points to 8.3%, according to Statistics Canada.
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