Yen Weakens After U.S. Jobs Data

The Japanese yen fell against its major counterparts in the New York session on Thursday, as better-than-expected U.S. jobs report lifted global stocks.

Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment skyrocketed by 4.8 million jobs in June after soaring by an upwardly revised 2.7 million jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to surge up by about 3.0 million jobs compared to the spike of 2.5 million jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dropped to 11.1 percent in June from 13.3 percent in May. The unemployment rate had been expected to dip to 12.3 percent.

The yen weakened to 121.44 against the euro, 114.00 against the franc and 107.73 against the greenback, reversing from its early highs of 120.76 and 113.46 and a 3-day high of 107.33, respectively.

The yen dropped to a new 2-week low of 134.71 against the pound, after rising to 133.78 at 7:45 pm ET.

The yen depreciated to a new 3-week low of 70.27 against the kiwi, from a high of 69.53 seen at 8:15 pm ET.

Against the aussie and the loonie, the yen edged down to 74.70 and 79.33, from its early high of 74.18 and a 2-day high of 78.93, respectively.

Next key support for the yen is seen around 123 against the euro, 115.00 against the franc, 112.00 against the greenback, 139.00 against the pound, 73.00 against the kiwi, 76.00 against the aussie and 81.5 against the loonie.