The dollar strengthened versus the euro Thursday morning in New York, ahead of another key prelude to tomorrow's all-important monthly jobs report.
Employment in the U.S. private sector saw continued growth in the month of January, according to a report released by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) on Wednesday.
ADP said employment in the non-farm private business sector rose by 170,000 jobs in January following a revised increase of 292,000 jobs in December.
The dollar rose to near $1.31 versus the euro, up about a penny from yesterday. The dollar has fallen no further since hitting a monthly low of $1.3218 on Friday.
Eurozone producer price inflation eased as expected in December, lifting the scope for an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank, the latest figures from Eurostat showed Thursday.
Producer price inflation fell to 4.3 percent from 5.4 percent in the preceding month.
Meanwhile, yields declined as Spain sold 4.6 billion euros of debt, further easing fears about Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Still, the euro was generally weaker this morning, as traders looked for additional signs that the global recovery will be sustained in 2012.
There was little relief versus other major rivals, with the buck stuck near $1.5830 versus the sterling and at Y76.10 versus the yen. The buck edged slightly above par versus its Canadian counterpart.
The Labor Department is due to release its customary jobless claims report for the week ended January 28th at 8:30 AM ET. Economists expect claims to have declined to 370,000 after rising by 21,000 to 377,000 in the week ended January 21st.
The U.S. Labor Department is also scheduled to release its preliminary fourth quarter non-farm productivity and unit labor costs at 8:30 AM.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on "The Economic Outlook and the Federal Budget Situation" before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives." At 10 am ET. Additionally, Richard Fisher will speak to the Headliners Club of Austin, Texas on the economy and monetary policy at 7:15 pm ET.
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Forex News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.