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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Dollar falls before US jobs data


LONDON — The dollar fell against the euro and yen on Friday as traders awaited key jobs data from the United States, the world's biggest economy and which remains stuck in recession.
The European single currency rose to 1.4557 dollars from 1.4543 dollars late in New York on Thursday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar dropped to 89.34 yen from 89.61 yen on Thursday.
Investors were awaiting the US employment report for September, which analysts expect to show 150,000-188,000 job losses, after 216,000 in August. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 9.9 percent from 9.7.
The payrolls data are the "fear factor" for the market, Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Worries deepened after a disappointing survey of US manufacturing stoked fears that job losses may show little signs of easing, dimming the chances of a sustainable recovery in the United States, analysts said.
The Institute of Supply Management said its index of the factory sector, also known as the purchasing managers index, fell to 52.6 percent in September from 52.9 percent in August.
Traders were also eyeing a meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven major industrialised nations, starting on Friday, to discuss the state of the global economy and financial market stability.
But the event in Istanbul is seen as less important this time around because it comes soon after a summit of the Group of 20, which declared itself a week ago the world's top international economic forum.
There is uncertainty about whether the G7 will even publish a final statement after its gathering.
Japan's Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said he would not raise the issue of the yen's recent strength, which is hurting Japanese exporters.
The Japanese currency hit an eight-month high early this week of 88.25 to the dollar, its highest since late January.
The yen may hit 85 to the greenback by the end of the year as Japanese interest rates are relatively high when adjusted for deflation, Morgan Stanley analysts predicted.
In London on Friday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4557 dollars against 1.4543 dollars late on Thursday, at 130.02 yen (130.34), 0.9149 pounds (0.9115) and 1.5128 Swiss francs (1.5139).
The dollar stood at 89.34 yen (89.61) and 1.0392 Swiss francs (1.0408).
The pound was at 1.5909 dollars (1.5951).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold fell to 998.52 dollars an ounce from 1,004.75 dollars an ounce late on Thursday.

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