By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The dollar edged up against major rivals on Friday, ahead of a key U.S. jobs report that’s expected to provide more clues on the state of the nation’s economy.
The dollar index DXY +0.13% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded at 74.560, up from 74.500 in late North American trading on Thursday.
The dollar advanced Thursday after a gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly improved in August while European data disappointed. See report on Thursday‘s currency action.
Investors are now waiting for nonfarm payrolls data, expected at 8.30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch are expecting that the U.S. economy added just 53,000 jobs in August, less than half the number added the previous month, while the jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 9.1%. See preview of U.S. jobs report.
“Uncertainty as to how the market will respond to different data surprises is as elevated as uncertainty on the outcome of the data themselves,” said Adam Cole, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
“Strong data would imply less risk of another tranche of quantitative easing, which the market has no doubt at least partially discounted for at the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The opposite, in the case of weaker data, is also likely to hold,” Cole said.
The euro EURUSD -0.31% weakened early Friday, trading at $1.4250, from $1.4270 in late North American trading on Thursday.
The British pound GBPUSD +0.05% traded at $1.6190, up from $1.6175 late Thursday.
The dollar USDJPY -0.15% bought 76.83 Japanese yen, almost flat from ¥76.82 in late trading Thursday.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
