Early trade in New York: dollar dips on mixed US payrolls data, awaits Powell

The dollar slipped on Friday against a basket of currencies, holding above a one-week low as a mixed report on the US jobs market in August reinforced the view of a slowing expansion and the possibility of more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Traders now await clues on the Fed's next move after it embarked on its first rate cut since 2008 in July when Fed Chair Jerome Powell participates on a panel about the economy and monetary policy in Zurich, which begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT).
"The jobs data were sufficiently mixed," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex LLC in New York. "The market is not going to change its view of a rate cut later in September."
The US Labour Department said private and public employers hired 130,000 workers in July, fewer than the 158,000 forecast among economists polled by Reuters, while hourly wages grew 0.4% last month, a tad faster than the 0.3% increase projected by analysts.
Interest rate futures still implied traders positioned for a quarter-point rate decrease at the Fed's Sept. 17-18 policy meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch program.
At 10:06 a.m. EDT (1406 GMT), an index that tracks the greenback against the euro, yen, sterling and three other currencies was 0.19% lower at 98.223 after hitting a one-week low of 98.085 on Thursday.
The dollar index is on track for 0.67% decline, its steepest weekly loss since June.
The greenback lost ground against its rivals as global tensions receded this week, most notably with China and the United States agreeing to high-level trade talks in October.
The Japanese yen was up 0.18% versus the dollar and up 0.06% against the euro.
Meanwhile, riskier currencies are looking at weekly gains with improved investor sentiment.
For example, the Australian dollar was up 0.53% at $0.6851, putting it on track for its first weekly increase since mid-July.
The Chinese currency in the offshore market extended gains and was trading up 0.37% against the greenback at 7.1118 yuan.