US Dollar Index around 97.40 on poor NFP

• The index drops to lows but rebounds on poor NFP results.
• Yields of the US 10-year note drop further to 2.62%.
• US Payrolls came in at just 20K in February.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback vs. a basket of its main rivals, remains on the defensive today although it has managed to rebound from daily lows in the 97.30/25 band.

US Dollar Index drops to lows on Payrolls

DXY has tumbled to fresh daily lows after US Non-farm Payrolls disappointed expectations in February, showing the economy added just 20K jobs vs. 180K forecasted and much lower than January’s 311K.

Further publications saw the key Average Hourly Earnings – a proxy for inflation via wage pressure – surprising to the upside, up 04% inter-month and 3.4% from a year earlier. In the meantime, the jobless rate ticked lower to 3.8% from 4.0%.

Additional auspicious data from the US housing sector saw Building Permits and Housing Starts expanding at a monthly 1.4% and 18.6%, respectively, both prints surpassing estimates.

US Dollar Index relevant levels

At the moment, the pair is losing 0.25% at 97.36 and a break below 97.25 (low Mar.8) would open the door to 96.72 (21-day SMA) and then 96.32 (55-day SMA). On the upside, the next up barrier emerges at 97.71 (2019 high Mar.7) seconded by 97.87 (monthly high Jun.20 2017) and finally 99.89 (monthly high May 11 2017).