Dollar steadies near low levels

The dollar steadied near a seven-week low against the yen on Thursday amid speculation of a possible Chinese revaluation soon and concerns about US economic prospects ahead of US jobs data on Friday. The US currency was briefly rattled by a blast in front of the British consulate in New York but quickly pared most of its earlier losses after it emerged there were no casualties and little damage. The two small explosions shattered windows around the consulate in the early hours of the morning as British voters went to the polls in a general election.
"Weekly US jobless claims today are important because they are a good indicator of payrolls and if they are bad they will add to concerns about global growth," said Mansoor Mohi-uddin, chief currency strategist at UBS in London.
"Regarding China, the authorities haven't given us any clues but the market is happy to hold the view that it (yuan revaluation) will happen soon," he said.
At 1145 GMT the dollar traded steady on the day versus the euro at $1.2956. It was up from session lows of $1.2990 hit immediately after the explosion reports.
It was also steady at 104.44 yen, compared with Wednesday's seven-week low of 104.15 yen.
Sterling also shrugged off the blast and was awaiting results of Thursday's election, with surveys suggesting Prime Minister Tony Blair will win a third consecutive term despite anger over his decision to go to war in Iraq.
"The news from New York is being ignored now," said David Mann, foreign exchange strategist at Standard Chartered in London.
Weekly US jobs data were due at 1230 GMT. Earlier this week, the dollar softened after the Federal Reserve raised no new alarm bells in its statement following a widely expected increase in US interest rates.
Many analysts said the Fed's statement reflected uncertainty about near-term prospects for the world's largest economy. This would mean any data from the US was likely to attract close market scrutiny.
Friday's non-farm payrolls data is expected to show a median 170,000 jobs were created in April, according to a Reuters poll.