US dollar drops against euro after jobs data

The US dollar dropped to the lowest level in two weeks against the euro on Friday after the better-than-expected US jobs data drove investors to riskier assets. The greenback was under pressure after the US Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate unexpectedly decreased to 7.8 percent in September, the lowest level since 2009. The news, a surprise to most investors as they were expecting a modest rise, showed that the hiring was stronger and the U.S. jobs market was gaining some strength. Upbeat economic reports were always negative to the dollar as the safe-haven currency was more favorable to the market when the economic condition was uncertain. The euro was also helped as investors were still awaiting Spain 's request for aid, a move that would prompt the European Central Bank to buy its bonds and lower the country's borrowing costs. Yields of the Spanish ten-year bond retreat, a sign of alleviated concerns over the region, after President Mario Draghi said the central bank was ready to buy government bonds "once all the prerequisites are in place." However, the dollar gained against the Japanese yen as investors were wary of buying the yen on concerns that the Japanese authorities could intervene to weaken it, especially after Japanese officials repeatedly expressed concerns about the strength of the currency. The dollar bought 78.69 Japanese yen, higher than 78.50 in the previous session. In late New York trading, the euro gained to 1.3025 from Thursday's 1.3018, while the British pound fell to 1.6140 dollars from 1.6185. The dollar slipped to 0.9300 Swiss francs from 0.9308 and to 0. 9790 Canadian dollars from 0.9807.