The euro bounced against the dollar on Friday, hitting a fourteen month high, after stronger than expected Eurozone manufacturing data.

The latest Purchasing Managers' Index survey showed Eurozone factories enjoyed their most robust month in almost a year in January, after strong German output.

The single currency pushed past $1.37 to a high of $1.3711 before later trading at around $1.3662 versus $1.3579 the previous session. It was the first time the euro has been bought at $1.37 since the end of 2011.

Meanwhile investors were kept busy with plenty of US data out on Friday.

The US Labor Department said payrolls rose by 157,000 in January, after a revised gain of 196,000 in December and 247,000 in November.

The US jobs data underlined expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulus programme, which erodes the value of the dollar.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six major units, declined to 79.098 from 79.197 on Thursday.

A separate survey from the Institute for Supply Management reported that activity for US manufacturers in January strengthened to 53.1%, the highest level since April. December construction spending surged while January consumer sentiment also rose.

Against the yen, the greenback bought ¥92.50 compared to ¥91.46 while the euro traded at ¥126.36 versus ¥124.15 on Thursday.

Sterling was down at $1.5718 from $1.5857 on Thursday. The euro rallied to 15-month high against the pound, rising 1.5% to 0.8692p as confidence in the Eurozone continues to improve.



CJ

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