Dollar steadies after week of gains

07/08/2015 07:49 AST

The dollar steadied against the euro and yen on Friday after a week of gains as the market braced for U.S. non-farm payrolls data that could spur the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in September.

The euro treaded water at $1.0915 EUR= after edging further away from a two-week trough of $1.0847 plumbed mid-week. The common currency has lost 0.6 percent versus the dollar this week.

The greenback stood little changed at 124.78 yen JPY= following a retreat overnight caused by position adjustments before the U.S. payrolls release at 1230 GMT Friday. ECONUS

The dollar was still poised to gain about 0.7 percent on the week after touching a two-month high of 125.015 on Wednesday.

Upbeat U.S. economic indicators that supported the case for tightening and hawkish comments by a Fed official helped the dollar scale that peak.

But Friday's payrolls report is expected to play a more crucial part in shaping the "data dependent" Fed approach to raising rates.

Economists expect the payrolls report to show that 223,000 jobs were created in July.

"Whether the dollar can advance further against the yen will likely depend on how equities react to payrolls that could support a September hike," said Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan FX strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo. "Lower equities would weigh on the dollar, but we still see the currency on an uptrend in the medium term."

How U.S. bond yields react to any increase in rate hike expectations was also in focus, as the dollar often benefits from higher yields.

"The response by U.S. equities and its dollar impact could be difficult to read as corporate results have to be included in the equation," said Ayako Sera, senior market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust in Tokyo.

"On the other hand, reaction by bond yields will be straightforward, rising if the non-farm payrolls are good," she said.



LITTLE REACTION TO BOJ, KURODA EYED

The Bank of Japan stood pat on monetary policy on Friday and maintained its massive stimulus program. While the outcome was widely expected and prompted little reaction, the market waited to see if Governor Haruhiko Kuroda would speak on the yen's recent depreciation at his 0630 GMT media briefing.

Kuroda unnerved the market in June, when the yen sank to a 13-year low against the dollar, by noting that the Japanese currency was already "very weak".

Elsewhere, sterling continued to flounder after the Bank of England sent a more dovish message overnight than some had expected.

At a policy meeting on Thursday, only one member voted for an immediate rate hike against expectations for at least two members to join the hawkish camp. The BOE still pointed to a possible hike early next year.

The pound dipped further to $1.5509 GBP=D4 after shedding 0.6 percent overnight.

The Australian dollar climbed 0.4 percent to $0.7376 AUD=D4, on track to gain 1 percent on the week.

The Aussie has benefited after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) omitted calls for its further decline after a policy meeting on Tuesday.

The RBA followed up on Friday by releasing a quarterly report in which it left out an earlier prediction that a further drop in the currency was both likely and necessary.

Reuters