The dollar spiked higher on stronger-than-expected jobs data, combined with the news that the U.S. Federal Reserve will boost liquidity in the financial system by expanding its Term Auction Facility (TAF) auctions and its swap agreements with other central banks. The Fed will boost its TAF auctions to $75 billion from the current $50 billion, beginning with the May 5 auction. It will also expand its swap agreements with the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank. The central banks said they are expanding their swap agreements "in view of the persistent liquidity pressures in some term funding markets". Hans Redeker, head of forex strategy at BNP Paribas, said the moves illustrate that the Fed is now focusing on liquidity boosting measures rather than interest rate cuts, a dollar positive. Continued moves to curtail the credit crunch may also boost risk appetite, giving the U.S. unit further support, he said. "This will have very positive impact on equity markets, and allow people to take further risks ... it adds to the normalisation process, and underlines how pro-active the Fed is," Redeker said. "Add all this together and you get a strong dollar story." At 1300 GMT the euro was trading at 1.5400 to the dollar, down from around 1.5460 just before the announcement but recovering from a day low of 1.5360. The pound was also weaker against the greenback, at around 1.9810, down from about 1.9850 just after the announcement. Also in support were some firmer-than-expected jobs data, which showed the U.S. economy shed 20,000 jobs in April, a better showing than the 75,000 figure analysts were expecting.