Investing.com - The dollar moved higher against other major currencies on Friday, ahead of the highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the day.
EUR/USD slipped 0.15% to 1.0743, off the previous session’s eight-week high of 1.0829.
Investors were still cautious as U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies and immigration bans spurred ongoing uncertainty in global markets.
On Thursday, Trump suggested the possibility of imposing new sanctions on multiple Iranian entities, seeking to increase pressure on Tehran.
Market participants were looking ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, due later Friday, after upbeat initial jobless claims numbers released the day before sparked fresh optimism over the strength of the jobs market.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD fell 0.26% to trade at 1.2491.
Also Friday, Markit said its U.K. services purchasing managers' index dropped to 54.5 last month from a reading of 56.2 in December. Analysts had expected the index to fall only to 55.8 in January.
USD/JPY rose 0.32% to trade at 113.16, off Thursday’s two-month lows of 112.03, while USD/CHF gained 0.29% to 0.9955.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.12% at 0.7648 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.26% to 0.7267.
Data earlier showed that China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI ticked down to 51.0 in January from 51.9 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to slip to 51.8 last month.
The data fueled fresh concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy. China is Australia’s biggest export partner and New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD eased up 0.08% to 1.3038.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.20% at 100.03, off Thursday’s two-and-a-half month trough of 99.19.