The dollar held steady against the euro on Friday as an apprehensive market waited to see if US July payrolls data later will fall short of forecasts and dampen expectations about the pace of US interest rate rises.
Predictions are for a rise of 200,000 to 250,000 jobs, but a recent mixed bag of US data, particularly unexpected weakness in the employment components of manufacturing and service surveys, has made the market nervous.
The dollar tested its lowest level against the euro for four days during the Asian session on Friday but by the European mid-session it had inched back to New York closing levels.
"There's nothing going on now. There's everything to play for - it's a very big number. Why make a big move now?" said David Bloom, currency strategist at HSBC Markets.
By 1145 GMT, the euro was around $1.2051, unchanged from late US levels after climbing to $1.2089 earlier.
US oil prices touched another record high at nearly $45 a barrel on Friday, helping send the Japanese stock market's benchmark Nikkei average down 0.8 percent.
The perception that Japan, which relies almost completely on imports for its oil, is the most vulnerable to a surge in prices has knocked the yen down this week. But, after shedding nearly one yen against the dollar on Thursday, the currency gained 0.14 percent on the day to 111.59 yen per dollar.
Elsewhere, German data showed industrial output shrinking by 1.9 percent in June against a Reuters consensus forecast of a 0.2 percent drop. The market is divided over what to expect from the US non-farm payrolls data.
The Reuters consensus of analysts' forecasts gives expectations of a rise of 228,000 for July but some economists are looking for a much higher number around 300,000.
That would be a big jump from June's 112,000 increase. But after weaker than expected components in manufacturing and service sector surveys this week, others are more doubtful.
Comments
Comments are closed.