Dollar eyes weekly drop ahead of jobs data
Shafaq News / The dollar was on course to snap a six-week winning streak against major peers on Friday, as it headed into a pivotal monthly U.S. jobs report that is likely to inform the path for Federal Reserve policy over the near term.
The U.S. currency dipped to a one-week low against the yen, weighed down by slumping Treasury yields, after a volatile week when overall soft economic data tempered the outlook for further Fed rate hikes.
However, the greenback held on to gains made against the euro and sterling overnight after officials at the respective central banks struck more dovish postures ahead of policy meetings this month.
Elsewhere, the yuan strengthened after the People's Bank of China cut forex reserve requirements for the first time in a year.
The U.S. dollar index - which measures the currency against a basket of six developed-market peers, including the euro, sterling and yen - edged 0.02% lower to 103.61 on Friday, bringing declines this week to 0.53%.
A parade of employment and inflation data has paved the way to the nonfarm payrolls report later in the global day, and much of it has been on the weaker side, leading traders to pare bets for a rate hike on Sept. 20 to 12% from 18% a week ago, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
"The dollar rally is looking quite tired, with outsized falls in response to what are normally second-tier data releases, raising the danger of a dramatic fall if the first-tier payrolls number is soft," said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac.
(Reuters)
