Mexicos peso strengthened sharply on Friday after US job losses failed to match the wilder fears of some investors in global financial markets. Data showed US employers shed 651,000 jobs in February, and while the reading was in line with expectations, some traders had feared the figure could be as high as one million.
"It wasnt that bad," Juan Jose Resendiz, an analyst at Arka brokerage in Mexico City, said in a note to clients. The data was bad enough to send the US unemployment rate to its highest in 25 years. The peso firmed 0.52 percent to 15.2649 per dollar.