NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar traded higher against other major currencies on Friday after a strong U.S. July payrolls report.
On the economic front, U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July, well above market expectations, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department Friday.
Investors have kept a close eye on nonfarm payroll report, looking for clues on when the Federal Reserve might start the balance sheet reduction and increase interest rate.
"This report should leave the Fed comfortable with B/S (balance sheet) normalization in Sept and we think leaves a hike in Dec on the table," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in its U.S. economic watch.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, surged 0.78 percent at 93.566 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1763 U.S. dollars from 1.1869 U.S. dollars, and the British pound dropped to 1.3036 U.S. dollars from 1.3131 U.S. dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7928 U.S. dollar from 0.7942 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 110.68 Japanese yen, higher than 110.17 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9734 Swiss franc from 0.9700 Swiss franc, and it edged up to 1.2644 Canadian dollars from 1.2578 Canadian dollars.
