By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar edged lower in Asia Friday afternoon ahead of key U.S. data on November employment due out later in the global trading day.
“With the much-anticipated [European Central Bank] announcement behind us, all eyes will turn to U.S. non-farm payroll and unemployment rate data,” Yuki Sakasai, a currencies strategist at Barclays Capital, said in a note to clients.
The pace of job growth is expected to improve in November, although it will remain too slow to make a dent in the high levels of unemployment, analysts said. Read about analysts’ expectations for job growth.
In Asia’s afternoon trading, the dollar index (DXY 80.13, -0.17, -0.21%) , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of major rivals fell to 80.150 from 80.210 in late North American trade Thursday.
The greenback had also weakened Thursday against the euro after word that the ECB was buying up euro-zone debt. See Thursday’s currencies story.
Overall, however, the U.S. dollar “has appreciated lately despite the soft run of U.S. economic data due to thin liquidity, concern about euro-area peripherals and possibility of further monetary tightening in China, among other things,” Sakasai said. But “U.S. rates have been moving more in line with U.S. data surprises, likely reflecting the data-dependent nature of the [Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing].”
“This suggests that the outcome of today’s U.S. employment data matters for the short-term prospects of USD/JPY in particular, given that it is one of the most interest rate-sensitive currency pairs,” said Sakasai.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar (USDYEN 83.6200, -0.2300, -0.2743%) was buying ¥83.56, down from ¥83.87 Thursday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
The euro (EURUSD 1.3224, +0.0003, +0.0227%) rose to $1.3224, up slightly from $1.3222 in North American trade late Thursday.
