By: Barbara Zigah
Ahead of the Labor Department’s release of weekly employment data, the U.S. Dollar steadied in Asian trading, recovering slightly from the sell-off that occurred earlier in the week. The markets are also keenly awaiting news out of the IMF and the G7 meetings later today.
As reported at 5:21 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the greenback was trading against the Yen at 82.36 Yen, just off the 15-year trough of 82.11 Yen which was struck yesterday.
Later today in the U.S., the Labor Department will release the non-farms payroll report; analysts expect that the report will essentially be a wash, with new jobs hiring almost equaling the U.S. census jobs that were lost when the temporarily hired workers were released.
It’s also forecast that the unemployment rate may edge up .1% from its current 9.6%. However, until the definitive report is released, markets will continue to exercise caution, should the forecasts be better than expected, the Fed might hold off on any talk of quantitative easing in the near term.
Another cause of concern among market players is the possibility that discussions at the IMF and G7 might focus on the creation of a concerted plan on currency valuation, as there continues to be condemnation of intentional and competitive currency devaluation.