United States employers probably added 180,000 jobs in August, according to economists’ estimates. But it slipped 0.5 percent against the South Korean won.
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AUD/USD is supported around 0.7490 levels and now trading at 0.7508 levels.
Against the safe-haven yen, the dollar was down 0.2 percent at 103.21 as the region’s equities went on the defensive after an overnight slide in crude oil prices dragged down Wall Street shares on Wednesday.
Data due on Tuesday is expected to show the consumer confidence index dipped to 97 in August after hitting 97.3 last month.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said early on Tuesday that it is impossible to say whether the next interest rate hike would be “one and done”, according to media reports.
Now that Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Stanley Fischer has made it clear the central bank’s employment mandate has almost been met, a solid set of data on the job market in August, due on Friday, could make a September interest rate rise look more likely than anyone now expects. The Aussie has been on a downtrend since hitting a near 3-1/2 month high of $0.7760 earlier in August.
Gold fell on Tuesday after two days of gains, despite hawkish remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen. The S&P 500 financial sector is up 1.8 percent so far this week, compared with a 0.3 percent advance for the S&P.
The dollar was trading near three-week highs the other major currencies on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to the USA employment report for August, scheduled for Friday, for fresh hints on the direction of interest rates.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell 1/32 in price to yield 1.570 percent. This seems inappropriate given the likelihood of another Fed rate hike before the end of the year and more to follow next year.
Traders are waiting for official August jobs data due for release on Friday to see if the USA labor market is strong enough to justify the Fed’s tighter monetary policy stance, although relatively subdued inflation also remains an obstacle.
Spot gold was down 0.8 percent at $1,312.71 an ounce by 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT), after falling as low as $1,311.65, the lowest since July 21. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) closed down 9.34 points, or 0.18 percent, at 5,222.99.
West Texas Intermediate closed with losses of 1.03% at $46.49 and Brent crude down 1.7% to $48.43.
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The dollar wavered against the yen and euro on September 1, its advance put on hold ahead of the closely-watched USA non-farm jobs report on September 2 which is expected to shape the market’s near-term interest rate expectations.
