Investing.com – The Japanese yen traded flat against the U.S. dollar ahead of the release of the official December jobs report later on Friday.
An increase of 203,000 is expected in U.S. December nonfarm payrolls while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7%. If the job report is very strong the investors would be worried that the Federal Reserve could wind down its bond buying much faster and begin raising short-term interest rates.
USD/JPY traded flat at 104.83, AUD/USD traded at 0.8894, down 0.04%, while and NZD/USD was down 0.15% at 0.8240.
Earlier on Thursday the dollar gained this week after payroll processor ADP reported that private-sector nonfarm payrolls rose by 238,000 in December, surpassing consensus forecasts for an increase of 200,000, while the Federal Reserve said in the minutes of its December policy report that authorities felt the decision to trim its monthly bond purchases in January was the right one and stressed the need to follow up in "measured" steps.
The Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 15,000 to 330,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 345,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to decline by 10,000.
The euro, meanwhile, faced pressures of its own after ECB President Mario Draghi “strongly” reiterated the bank’s forward guidance on interest rates, saying monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as necessary, which cushioned the dollar's losses.
Draghi said the ECB was ready to take "further decisive action" if monetary authorities detected unwarranted short-term tightening in the money markets or if the outlook for inflation worsened in the medium term. The ECB would consider "all possible instruments" to tackle these contingencies, he added.
Draghi's comments came after the ECB left interest rates on hold at 0.25%, in a widely anticipated decision.
Also in Europe, Germany's industrial production rose 1.9% in November, beating market calls for a 1.5% gain, which helped push the single currency higher against the dollar.
GBP/USD down 0.03% at 1.6474.
The Bank of England earlier left rates on hold at 0.5% and announced no change to the size of its GBP375 billion asset purchase program, as was widely expected.
EUR/USD was down 0.04% at 1.3602, and USD/CHF was up 0.02% at 0.9069.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.01% at 81.08.
An increase of 203,000 is expected in U.S. December nonfarm payrolls while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7%. If the job report is very strong the investors would be worried that the Federal Reserve could wind down its bond buying much faster and begin raising short-term interest rates.
USD/JPY traded flat at 104.83, AUD/USD traded at 0.8894, down 0.04%, while and NZD/USD was down 0.15% at 0.8240.
Earlier on Thursday the dollar gained this week after payroll processor ADP reported that private-sector nonfarm payrolls rose by 238,000 in December, surpassing consensus forecasts for an increase of 200,000, while the Federal Reserve said in the minutes of its December policy report that authorities felt the decision to trim its monthly bond purchases in January was the right one and stressed the need to follow up in "measured" steps.
The Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 15,000 to 330,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 345,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to decline by 10,000.
The euro, meanwhile, faced pressures of its own after ECB President Mario Draghi “strongly” reiterated the bank’s forward guidance on interest rates, saying monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as necessary, which cushioned the dollar's losses.
Draghi said the ECB was ready to take "further decisive action" if monetary authorities detected unwarranted short-term tightening in the money markets or if the outlook for inflation worsened in the medium term. The ECB would consider "all possible instruments" to tackle these contingencies, he added.
Draghi's comments came after the ECB left interest rates on hold at 0.25%, in a widely anticipated decision.
Also in Europe, Germany's industrial production rose 1.9% in November, beating market calls for a 1.5% gain, which helped push the single currency higher against the dollar.
GBP/USD down 0.03% at 1.6474.
The Bank of England earlier left rates on hold at 0.5% and announced no change to the size of its GBP375 billion asset purchase program, as was widely expected.
EUR/USD was down 0.04% at 1.3602, and USD/CHF was up 0.02% at 0.9069.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.01% at 81.08.