Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Dollar Steady in Asia Ahead of Jobs Report

Published 09/03/2020, 10:43 PM
Updated 09/03/2020, 11:18 PM
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

By Alfred Romann

Investing.com – The dollar was steady on Friday morning in Asia ahead of the release of U.S. jobs data that could shed some light on the quality of the economic recovery.

The US dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies was flat at 92.47 by 10:23 PM ET (2:23 AM GMT).

The dollar has gained some ground against other main currencies like the euro in recent days but “my main scenario is for the dollar to fall, for stocks to rise and for yields to fall because the Fed is expected to stick with low interest rates,” Junichi Ishikawa, senior foreign exchange strategist at IG Securities in Japan, told Reuters.

Data on non-farm payrolls out on Friday in the U.S. could shed some light on the strength of the economic recovery there. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported initial jobless claims fell to 881,000 for the week to Aug. 28, lower than forecasts of 950,000.

The USD/JPY pair inched up 0.01% to 106.18. On Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declared his candidacy to lead the Liberal Democratic Party and succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The USD/CNY pair edged down 0.03% to 6.8417. The Chinese currency is up about 5% against the greenback since May. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the daily reference rate for the yuan at 6.8359 compared to 6.8319 on Thursday.

“A stronger yuan would help China diversify away from the dollar and optimize its resource allocation,” HSBC’s director and senior foreign-exchange strategist Wang Ju told Bloomberg.

The AUD/USD pair edged down 0.01% to 0.7270 and the NZD/USD pair inched down 0.10% to 0.6704.

The GBP/USD pair was up 0.03% to 1.3285.

On Thursday, both Japan and China released purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures for August with slight dips. Japan’s August services PMI came in at 45, slightly below July’s 45.4. China’s Caixin services PMI for August was 54 against July’s 54.1.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.