Yen shows little reaction to Bank of Japan decision to stay on hold
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar was little changed against other major currencies Friday, as traders retreated to the sidelines ahead of data on September nonfarm payrolls due later this morning.
The dollar index DXY -0.21% , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, traded at 78.586, marginally lower from 78.611 in North American trade late Thursday.
The Labor Department will release the jobs data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Read more about the jobs data.
The consensus forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch is for a 59,000 rise in September nonfarm payrolls. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 9.1%.
The euro EURUSD +0.04% traded at $1.3424, compared with $1.3434 in North American trade late Thursday.
In other trading, the British pound rose to $1.5505 from $1.5438 late Thursday. The pound fell sharply in the previous session after the Bank of England announced a new round of quantitative easing aimed to boosting the sluggish U.K. recovery.
The U.S. dollar bought 76.67 Japanese yen compared with 76.63 yen on Thursday. The yen showed little reaction to the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep monetary policy on hold. Read more about the decision.
Polya Lesova is chief of MarketWatch’s London bureau.
