Investing.com - The dollar was mostly unchanged against other major currencies on Friday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a highly-anticipated U.S. employment report amid growing speculation over a near-term rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
EUR/USD held steady at 1.1196.
The greenback had weakened after the Institute for Supply Management said on Thursday that its manufacturing activity index dropped to 49.4 last month from July’s reading of 52.6. It was the worst reading since January and missed expectations for a slight drop to 52.0.
But market participants were eyeing the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later Friday for further indications on the strength of the job market after Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said earlier in the week that the U.S. labor market is almost at full strength and that the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent.
Data on Thursday showed that U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 2,000 to 263,000 last week, compared to expectations for a 4,000 rise to 265,000.
GBP/USD was also steady at 1.3276, close to the previous session’s one-month high of 1.3317.
The pound remained supported after data on Thursday showed that U.K. manufacturing activity moved back into expansionary territory in August, easing concerns over a potential economic slowdown post-Brexit.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY rose 0.25% to trade at 103.47, after hitting five-week highs of 104.01 on Thursday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.70, just off the four-day low of 95.58 hit overnight.