By Joseph Adinolfi, MarketWatch
The dollar started the month off strong on Wednesday, as a spate
of strong U.S. economic data suggested growth remained robust in
June, providing more justification for Federal Reserve policy
makers to raise interest rates this year.
ADP's June estimate for private-sector hiring beat estimates
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/private-sector-adds-237000-jobs-in-june-adp-2015-07-01-891185)
by nearly 20,000 jobs, quickly sending the dollar through 123 yen,
and the euro below $1.11. The dollar had found resistance at both
of those levels earlier in the session.
The ADP number has underestimated the Labor Department's reading
on jobs growth during five of the past seven months. Paul Dales, a
senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said there's a chance
the June nonfarm payrolls number could surprise to the upside --
maybe even as high as 290,000.
Economists polled by MarketWatch forecast that 225,000 new jobs
were created in June.
The headline ISM manufacturing index came in at 53.5%, beating
expectations by about 0.3%. The dollar continued to strengthen
after the report.
Federal Reserve policy makers said they would be cautious about
raising interest rates at their June meeting, reiterating that the
timing of the first interest-rate hike remains "data dependent."
Wednesday's data indicated the economy is on track to meet their
criteria.
The dollar traded at 123.10 yen, up from Yen122.43 late Tuesday
in New York. The euro traded at $1.1068, down from $1.1131 late
Tuesday.
The U.S. Dollar Index , a measure of the dollar's strength
against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.7% at 95.9520 after
the report.
The dollar also traded higher against the pound and the Canadian
dollar .
Hopes for a deal between Greece and its international creditors
were dashed early Wednesday after creditors rejected the country's
latest proposal
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fresh-greek-bailout-proposals-fall-short-of-creditors-demands-2015-07-01)
for a new bailout. The euro briefly spiked on the news, continuing
a trend of the common currency rallying when the Greek situation
deteriorates.
Traders are now looking ahead to the Labor Department's nonfarm
payrolls report for June, expected Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.
Eastern.
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