The US Dollar touched on a 1-week peak versus the Japanese Yen as investors away Friday’s release of the government’s private sector labor report. Thursday’s ADP report for the month of May showed an unexpectedly upbeat number of 253,000 new jobs, well above the 185,00 forecast by economists; April’s numbers were revised downward by 3,000 jobs. Currently, analysts are predicting that the non-farms payroll report will show 185,000 new jobs in May, down from 211,000. Any upside surprise could help cement sentiment for a Federal Reserve rate hike while a disappointment could weigh on the Dollar.
As reported at 11:30 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 111.62 Yen, a gain of 0.23%; the pair earlier hit a high of 111.69 Yen while the session low was established at 111.30 Yen. The AUD/USD was up at $0.7383, a gain of 0.07% while the NZD/USD was at $0.7070, a gain of 0.09%.
Treasury Yields Eyed for Dollar Momentum
Analysts say that the Dollar’s rise against the Yen is a factor of a broad improvement in risk sentiment, especially after the Japanese Nikkei hit a 22-month high which followed Wall Street’s record setting trading day on Thursday. According to currency strategists, only a solid rise in Treasury yields will provide any meaningful gains for the greenback.