Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, as the previous session's private sector employment data continued to weigh and investors remained cautious ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls data.
EUR/USD edged down 0.08% to 1.0894.
The dollar came under pressure after payroll processing firm ADP reported on Thursday that U.S. non-farm private employment rose 185,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 215,000.
Investors were eyeing the upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday, which could reinforce expectations for higher interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
The dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.08% at 1.5615.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported on Thursday that manufacturing production increased by 0.2% in June, matching expectations and following a decline of 0.6% in May.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose at rate of 0.5%, beating estimates for a gain of 0.4%, after rising at a rate of 1.0% in May.
The report also showed that U.K. industrial production fell by 0.4% in June, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.1%, after increasing 0.3% in the preceding month.
Elsewhere, the dollar was little changed against the yen, with USD/JPY at 124.85 and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.30% to 0.9820.
The Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD sliding 0.37% to 0.7329, while NZD/USD advanced 0.42% to 0.6540.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 38,500 in July, beating expectations for an increase of 10,000. The number of employed people ose by 7,000 in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of 7,300.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.3% last month from 6.1% in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated rate of 6.0%. Analysts had expected an unemployment rate of 6.0% in July.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.3167.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 98.04.