USD/NOK trades near 3-week high on blowout US jobs data

The USD/NOK currency pair traded within striking distance of a three-week high of 10.6977 on Monday, as the greenback maintained gains after a robust employment report that pointed to a resilient economy and urged market players to reduce bets of an out-sized Federal Reserve rate cut in November.

Data showed last Friday that the US economy had created 254,000 jobs in September, much more than expected, following a revised up 159,000 increase in August.

It has been the strongest job growth since March and it also exceeded the average monthly growth of 203,000 over the previous 12 months.

In addition, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% in September, or the lowest level since June, from 4.2% in August.

Markets are now pricing in about a 98% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the Fed’s policy meeting in November, compared to a 47% chance a week earlier.

Geopolitical developments also kept the US Dollar underpinned. Israel launched strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on Sunday ahead of the 1-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks that led to its war.

Meanwhile, in other data, manufacturing production in Norway was reported to have shrunk at a monthly rate of 1.1% in August, while snapping a three-month streak of growth.

As of 6:56 GMT on Monday the USD/NOK currency pair was edging up 0.24% to trade at 10.6520.