The U.S. dollar rallied to its largest one-day gain against a its major rivals so far this year after a strong U.S. July non-farm payrolls report and remarks from National Economic Council director Gary Cohn about lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate.
The dollar index, rose about 1 percent to a one-week high of 93.774 after the Labor Department said the economy added 209,000 jobs last month and Cohn's comments.
Cohn told Bloomberg TV on Friday that the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate should be more in line with the 24 percent average rate among other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The jobs number beat expectations by market participants for a gain of 183,000, while average hourly earnings nudged up to 0.3 percent to match expectations after rising 0.2 percent in June.
Market analysts said forex traders who had bet against or "shorted" the dollar – the popular bet of late as the greenback posted its biggest monthly drop since March 2016 last month – were being forced to repurchase the currency after the jobs data and Cohn's remarks.
EUR/USD fell more than 1 percent to a four-day trough of 1.1729 after hitting a more than 2-1/2-year high of 1.1909 on Wednesday. USD/JPY opened the week at 110.75 the week after rallying above 111 following the NFP data.
