Dollar Edges Up After Strong U.S. Job Openings

The dollar’s firmer tone came after a volatile session in which it initially fell as much as 0.17% before reversing on stronger-than-expected U.S. labor data. The Labor Department said job openings rose by 333,000 in September to 7.523 million, well above the 7.1 million economists polled by Reuters had expected, reinforcing the view that U.S. demand for workers remains resilient.

That strength was enough to support the currency even as broader market conviction remained shaky. Juan Perez, senior director of trading at Monex USA in Washington, said the dollar still has room to weaken, citing fading consensus on Fed policy and the risk that political infighting could intensify after the vote.

Outside the U.S., policy moves in Asia added to the crosscurrents. The offshore yuan weakened 0.35% to 6.67 per dollar after the People’s Bank of China raised reserve requirements on foreign-currency deposits to slow the yuan’s recent gains, while the Australian dollar slipped 0.4% to $0.6968 after the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted rates by 25 basis points to 4.85%, as expected.

The euro rose 0.07% to $1.1193, the pound gained 0.11% to $1.3418 and the yen weakened 0.47% to 158.66 per dollar. In Vietnam, the State Bank trimmed the central rate by 1 dong to 25,630 per dollar, underscoring how global dollar moves continue to feed through to local exchange rates.

With the Bank of England, Norges Bank and Sweden’s Riksbank all due to announce policy decisions later this week, currency traders are likely to stay focused on central-bank guidance, U.S. data and any escalation in geopolitical risk.