Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against other majors currencies on Friday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the highly-anticipated U.S. enployment report due later in the day.
EUR/USD edged up 0.16% to 1.1082.
Market participants were eyeing the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later Friday, for further confirmation of the strength of the job market after upbeat data was released on Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Labor said on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 2 decreased by 16,000 to 254,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 270,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000.
In addition, U.S. Payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose 172,000 last month, above forecasts for an increase of 159,000.
The greenback’s gains were capped however after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers agreed that it was “prudent to wait” for additional data before considering another rate hike.
GBP/USD rose 0.26% to 1.2941, still hovering close to Wednesday’s 31-year lows of 1.2797.
The pound remained under broad selling pressure as Britain’s shock decision to leave the European Union continued to fuel uncertainty over the consequences of the U.K. vote on the country’s economy.
USD/JPY slid 0.34% to trade at 100.43, re-approaching recent 30-month lows of 99.08.
Market participants were still speculating whether or not the Bank of Japan will soon introduce fresh easing measures to boost the economy.
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday that the central bank was ready to expand monetary stimulus further if needed to achieve its 2% inflation target and affirmed his confidence over Japan's recovery prospects, making no mention of the current Brexit turmoil.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that Japan’s adjusted current account surplus narrowed to ¥1.41 trillion in May from ¥1.63 trillion the previous month. Analysts had expected the current account surplus to narrow to ¥1.52 trillion in May.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.18% at 96.16.