Dollar Rises Against Euro Ahead Of U.S. Jobs Data

The U.S. dollar moved higher versus the euro and largely held its ground versus the Japanese yen Thursday as investors awaited the release of June U.S. non-farm payrolls data and other labor market figures.

The U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release the June labor data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch produced a consensus forecast for a loss of 325,000 jobs in June, compared to the 345,000 lost in May.

Market participants are also awaiting the outcome of the European Central Bank's monthly policy meeting in Luxembourg, which is set to be announced at 7:45 a.m. Eastern.

The ECB, however, is widely expected to leave its key lending rate unchanged at a record low of 1%, opting to wait and see whether efforts to boost credit flows in the euro zone prove effective, economists said. Close attention will be paid, however, to remarks by ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet at his monthly news conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Remarks at "today's press conference are also likely to soothe the market and hence support risk taking," wrote strategists at BNP Paribas, in a research note.

The dollar index (DXY), a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, traded at 79.912, up from 79.619 in North American trading Wednesday afternoon.

The dollar traded at 96.63 yen, little changed from 96.59 yen on Wednesday. The euro bought $1.4082, slipping from $1.4156.

The unemployment rate in the 16-nation euro zone jumped to 9.5% in May, the highest level in 10 years, the statistics agency Eurostat reported Thursday. Currency markets were unmoved.

A Chinese official reiterated the nation's call for a stable dollar and a diversification of reserve currencies Thursday, reports said, but the currency market reaction was muted.

China hopes for diversification of the international currency system in the future, and this topic could be addressed at next week's Group of Eight leaders' summit next week in Italy, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said.

The Swedish krona tumbled versus the euro after Sweden's central bank surprised markets with a quarter-point cut in its official interest rate to 0.25%. The krona traded at 10.7825 per euro, down 0.6%.

The euro posted a modest spike versus the Swiss franc after news reports said Swiss National Bank directorate member Thomas Jordan reiterated the central bank's willingness to intervene in foreign exchange markets to halt an appreciation of the Swiss currency.

Traders have reported instances over recent months of the SNB intervening to sell francs and buy euros.

The euro jumped from around 1.52 francs to above 1.5240 francs following the remarks, and remained 0.2% higher at 1.5238 francs in recent action.

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