By: DailyForex.com
Ahead of today’s release of non-farms payroll figures, the U.S. Dollar suffered heavy losses during the Asian trading session. Against the Japanese Yen, the greenback’s sell-off resulted in the largest single trading day’s loss in three years with the USD/JPY pair trading at 95.90 Yen, a more than 2% loss, before recovering to 97.32 Yen. The EUR/USD pair had struck a 3-month peak for the Euro when it hit $1.3306, a gain of 1.2%, before falling back to $1.3244. The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the Dollar’s strength against the Yen, Euro and numerous other major currencies, fell by 1.3% to 81.575 .DXY, a 3-month low.
Markets will turn their attention to the release of the U.S. labor data which should provide signs of the direction that the Fed might take. A consensus of analysts polled is calling for a gain of 170,000 new jobs but there are some fears that the data will disappoint and dash investors’ hopes for the Fed’s withdrawal of some stimulus measures. Earlier today, the European Central Bank said that they would keep their monetary policy unchanged, generally in line with expectations, though they continue to keep a wary eye on events.