On Friday the greenback was weaker against the euro and the yen ahead of a report on U.S. jobs in August. Analysts widely expect the report in order to get some cues on the possibility on the Federal Reserve interest rates hike at the September meeting.
The U.S. currency continued its steady appreciation against the
British pound, a trend that has been in place for the past
week-and-a-half - with GBP/USD last trading at1.5227, lower 0.20%.
The euro was last up 0.13% at $1.1138; the dollar was down 0.76% to ¥119.16.
Economists expect the dollar’s reaction to the report to reflect the
degree by which it outpaces expectations, which have softened in recent
days after a weaker-than-expected reading on jobs growth from Automatic
Data Processing Inc. on Wednesday.
The consensus forecast is for a gain of 213,000 jobs — slightly less than the 215,000 created in July.
Adam Cole, head of G-10 FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets, says many traders have reduced their expectations to 200,000 new jobs to reflect a reading of 190,000 new jobs from ADP, and the Institute for Supply Management’s services-sector index.
The futures market is currently pricing in a 30% chance of a
September rate hike, Cole said. The Fed’s next two-day policy meeting
begins Sept. 16.
U.S. stocks looked on track to fall at the open Friday and end lower for the week, but an eagerly awaited jobs report could shake up trading before the holiday weekend.
Stock futures lost ground, with S&P 500 futures down 20.10 points, or 1%, to 1,926.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 179 points, or 1.1%, to 16,169 after briefly falling more than 200 points. Nasdaq 100 dropped by 44.25 points, or 1.1%, to 4,185.25.
