The dollar recovered more ground against the yen on Friday ahead of US jobs data that should, judging by the rhetoric of US central bankers, cement a rise in Federal Reserve interest rates later this month. With the mood on global stock markets broadly buoyant, the commodity-price-dependent bloc of currencies led by the Australian and Canadian dollar were 0.1-0.3 percent higher.
Sterling was down 0.2 percent but still looking steadier, almost a cent above this week's lows against the dollar and half a penny off Wednesday's 2-1/2 month low against the euro. "The move this morning is in dollar yen," said Niels Christiansen, a strategist with Sweden's Nordea Bank. "Good numbers yesterday and the record highs in equities if anything are dollar positive. The data hasn't done a great deal for the dollar recently but we'll certainly be looking at the wage numbers today - that is crucial for inflation and the rate outlook."
The dollar hit 111.680 yen, its highest since May 26, in early trade in Asia before slipping back to 111.520, a 0.2 percent gain on the day. It was flat at $1.1212 per euro. The past fortnight has been the worst in over a year for the greenback against the euro and the basket of currencies used to measure its broader strength, a reflection of shakier US economic data and concerns over the Trump's administration's ability to deliver a substantial boost to growth.
In broader terms, it has been rallying off and on for the best part of two years on the assumption that US interest rates would continue to rise while those in Japan and Europe stayed below zero. Yet while markets have fully priced in another Fed hike in two weeks, expectations for the rest of the year are now minimal. "We suspect it will take a significant deviation from consensus in earnings - confirmed in subsequent releases - to give the dollar any sustained momentum," analysts from Credit Agricole said in a morning note to clients.
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