Dollar rises on upbeat job data

The U.S. dollar recovered against most major currencies on Friday as better-than-expected job data fueled speculations that the Federal Reserve will stick to its stimulus tapering plan. Total nonfarm payroll employment added 175,000 in February, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday, better than economists' forecast of 150,000. Moreover, the U.S. unemployment rate in February was little changed at 6.7 percent, the data showed. The U.S. dollar continued the downward trend against the euro, after the European Central Bank refrained from further monetary stimulus in the previous session. The ECB held its benchmark interest rate at 0.25 percent at its monthly meeting on Thursday. ECB President Mario Draghi said at a press conference following the meeting that inflation in the eurozone will rise to 1 percent this year and increase to 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. Draghi also said ECB policymakers concluded that economic conditions did not require shifts in monetary policy, indicating there was no need to add more stimulus. Among other U.S. data, the U.S. trade gap in January came out close to expectations, at 39.1 billion U.S. dollars, as an increase in exports was offset by a slightly higher rise in imports, said the Commerce Department. In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3871 dollars from 1.3860 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.6726 dollars from 1.6742 dollars. The Australian dollar slipped to 0.9066 dollar from 0.9096 dollar. The dollar bought 103.30 Japanese yen, higher than 103.05 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved down to 0.8774 Swiss franc from 0.8805 Swiss franc, and it went up to 1.1099 Canadian dollars from 1.0984 Canadian dollars.