The US Dollar remained on a steady course in Asian trading and is poised to record gains for the week. Analysts say, however, that the greenback could tread water until the release of the all-important Non-Farms Payroll report from the US Labor Department. Currently, analysts’ consensus calls for a rise in June’s new private sector jobs to 179,000. Analysts also expect the unemployment rate to remain at the current 4.3% level.
As reported at 11:25 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 113.788 Yen, a gain of 0.54%; the pair earlier hit a peak of 113.846 Yen, while the session’s low was at 113.098 Yen. Remaining in Asia, the AUD/USD was down 0.09% and trading at $0.7575. Meanwhile, the NZD/USD was higher at $0.7282, up 0.03%.
Dollar Traders Cautious
Today’s ADP labor release unexpectedly surprised with a fall to 158,000 new jobs, against expectations of 185,000; May’s figures were also downwardly revised to 230,000 from 253,000. Because of the ADP release, currency strategists don’t expect FX traders to push the Dollar any higher in advance of the NFP, especially in that a disappointment is a possibility.