Investing.com - The dollar held steady against other major currencies on Friday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. report on nonfarm payrolls due later in the day.
USD/JPY was little changed at 107.20.
Investors were awaiting the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later Friday for further indications on the strength of the job market following several negative signs this week.
Payroll processing firm ADP said on Wednesday that non-farm private employment rose by 156,000 last month, missing expectations for an increase of 196,000.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 29 increased by 17,000 to 274,000 from the previous week’s total of 257,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 260,000 last week.
Meanwhile, the yen also remained under pressure after Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that his government is prepared to take action against excessive, speculative rises in the nations’ currency.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.1409.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.73.