Ahead of the US Non-farms Payrolls report which is due out shortly, the US Dollar lagged its rivals as wary FX traders sit on the sidelines. Analysts are forecasting that the NFP report will show a rise in private sector jobs in November to 175,000, up from the 169,000 posted in October. On Wednesday, ADP reported an employment change of 216,000 new jobs, significantly higher than forecasts. While surprises do occur, the ADP report is generally viewed as a precursor to the government’s tally. Nonetheless, skeptical FX traders are keeping Dollar gains limited.
As reported at 10:38 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 113.761 Yen, down 0.34%. Analysts say that the USD/JPY could see a test of the 115 Yen threshold, but that will be dependent upon the NFP report. The GBP/USD was higher at $1.2596, a gain of 0.03% and the EUR/USD was trading at $1.0671, up 0.11%.
OPEC Decision Boosts Commodity Currencies
Commodity-linked currencies got a boost after OPEC announced that it had agreed to cut production output. The USD/CAD steadied at C$1.3289, down 0.18% for the greenback. The AUD/USD and NZD/USD were trading at $0.7428 and $0.7095, gains of 0.13% and 0.08%, respectively.