By Masayuki Kitano TOKYO, June 3 (Reuters) - The euro hit a one-month high against the dollar on Friday, with investors fretting whether U.S. jobs data due later in the day might signal a protracted soft patch in the U.S. economy's recovery and a further slide in the dollar. Disappointing U.S. data spurred a drop in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to a six-month low earlier in the week and dragged the dollar down to a one-month trough versus a basket of major currencies. With market expectations already lowered after a report this week showed sharply slower growth in private-sector jobs last month, market players say the chances of a steep dollar sell-off after the U.S. jobs data on Friday do not seem very high. "Unless there is a truly extreme result, I don't think the market will get all excited about the chances for QE3 and further dollar weakness," said Makoto Noji, a senior bond and currency strategist for SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo. U.S. nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 150,000 in May, according to a Reuters poll, less than the 180,000 forecast before Wednesday's report on slower private job growth. [ID:nN0118747] "Comments by policymakers will probably become a bigger focal point, whether they view the slowdown seen in manufacturing surveys and drop-off in employment as being temporary, or start making comments that justify accommodative (monetary) policies," Noji said. The recent string of weak U.S. data has stirred market talk of more action by the Federal Reserve, which is due to end its $600 billion bond buying programme this month. However, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, one of the Fed's most strident inflation hawks, told the Wall Street Journal that the Fed has done enough to spur economic growth and new steps to boost the economy would be unwarranted. [ID:nL3E7H3016] EURO RESISTANCE NEAR $1.4570, $1.4710 The euro held steady at $1.4484 EUR=, clinging to gains made after Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday there is a very small but rising risk of a short-lived default by the United States if there is no increase in the statutory debt limit in the coming weeks. [ID:nN02274698] [ID:nNWNA0100] Earlier on Friday it hit a one-month high of $1.4518 on trading platform EBS as traders tried to trigger stop-loss bids said to be lurking near $1.4520. On the euro's downside, there was talk of euro bids at levels near $1.4440 to $1.4450. Chart resistance for the euro lies near $1.4570, a 61.8 percent retracement of its slide in May on worries about possible restructuring of Greece's debt. Further resistance lies near $1.4710, a 76.4 percent retracement of that same drop. U.S. Treasuries fell on Thursday after the Moody's warning, but traders said the bulk of the selling was driven by profit-taking after a rally on Wednesday, and currency analysts played down the significance of the Moody's warning as a selling factor for the dollar. [ID:nN02288941] Noji at SMBC Nikko Securities said market players expect congressional leaders to reach a deal by early August. "I think the consensus is that there will be a decision on a broad stance to reduce the debt over the medium to long term. I don't think the market will get caught up in full-blown worries about the status of U.S. Treasuries as a safe-haven asset," Noji said. The dollar held steady against a basket of major currencies at 74.345 .DXY =USD, having touched a one-month low around 74.210 earlier on Friday. Against the yen, the dollar dipped 0.2 percent to 80.71 yen JPY=. The dollar has support near 80.59 yen, a 61.8 percent retracement of its rally in May, and also at the previous day's low of 80.55 yen. Below that area, a 76.4 percent retracement of the same rally offers support near 80.20 yen. (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, Reuters FX analysts Krishna Kumar in Sydney and Rick Lloyd in Singapore; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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