The dollar remained strong against the yen and the euro on Friday but off recent highs as the latest report showed the US economy continued to add jobs in December but at a slightly slower rate than the month before.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six others, rose to a high of 80.834 before later trading at 80.440 after the US jobs report.

The US Department of Labor said 155,000 jobs were added in December compared to an upwardly revised increase of 161,000 in November. The unemployment rate remained at 7.8%.

Dollar gains were also pressured slightly after minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting indicated policymakers may wind down their quantitative easing programme at the end of this year.

Against the euro, the dollar changed hands at $1.3082 compared to $1.3053 on Thursday.

The greenback traded at ¥88.13 from ¥87.26 the previous session while the euro rose to ¥115.29 compared to ¥113.84 on Thursday.

Sterling declined to $1.6078 from $1.6102.




CJ

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