Investing.com - The dollar was almost unchanged against other major currencies on Friday, as investors were eyeing the release of key U.S. employment data due later in the day, amid growing expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its meeting next week.
EUR/USD edged up 0.18% to 1.0594.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s government employment report for February, where a strong reading would cement expectations for a rate hike from the Fed next week.
The greenback weakened mildly after the U.S. Department of Labor said on Thursday that initial jobless claims increased by 20,000 to 243,000 in the week ending March 4 from the previous week’s total of 223,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 12,000 to 235,000 last week.
The euro remained supported after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi struck a more upbeat tone on the outlook for the recovery in the euro zone on Thursday, while reiterating that the present monetary policy stance remains appropriate.
The comments came after the ECB kept interest rates unchanged at the outcome of its meeting earlier and reiterated they can be cut again in the future if necessary.
GBP/USD was little changed at 1.2167, off the previous session’s seven-week low of 1.2134.
Market participants were also looking ahead to U.K. data on manufacturing production and the country’s trade balance, expected later Friday.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY gained 0.41% to trade at 115.43, the highest since January 19.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 101.94.