Dollar struggles before payrolls test; Aussie rebounds

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

dollar hung back from a four-week high against major peers on Friday as investors looked ahead to a key jobs report that could influence the path for U.S. interest rates. Sterling traded slightly higher after recovering knee-jerk losses following the Bank of England's decision to downshift to a quarter point rate hike on Thursday.

The yen hovered near the middle of its trading range this week as traders tried to gauge the Bank of Japan's tolerance for higher yields following last week's surprise policy tweak. [JP/] Meanwhile, the risk-sensitive Australian dollar strengthened amid a rebound in Chinese stocks and U.S. equity futures.

The U.S. dollar index, which gauges the currency against a basket of six counterparts, edged 0.07% lower to 102.38 in early Asia. On Thursday, it had pushed to the highest since July 7 at 102.84 at one point, but lost steam later in the day with the monthly nonfarm payrolls report looming on Friday.

However, the dollar edged higher to 142.64 yen, aided by the rise in long-term Treasury yields to a nearly nine-month high at 4.198% overnight. Sterling rose 0.17% to $1.27305, after dipping as low as $1.2620 on Thursday for the first time since June 30 after the BoE decision, despite a warning that rates were likely to stay high for some time. The euro ticked up 0.06% to $1.09585.