US$ retreats as traders question pace of Fed rate increase

London

THE dollar weakened, with the Norwegian and Australian currencies among the biggest gainers, as investors tempered bets that a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in December will fuel a further advance in the greenback.

The US currency has struggled to extend gains that pushed it at least 1 per cent higher against all of its 10 developed-nation counterparts this month. The probability that the Fed will raise rates by next month was 66 per cent, compared with 50 per cent at the end of October, after a Labor Department report last week showing the biggest increase in jobs this year backed the case for the Fed to act next month.