Dollar hovers near three-month high, U.S. jobs awaited for rate clues
The dollar held firm on Friday with investors on tenterhooks over whether upcoming U.S. jobs data will be strong enough to cement rising expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month.
The dollar index .DXY treaded water at 97.927, keeping in close reach of a three-month high of 98.135 .DXY =USD struck on Thursday.
"Fed policymakers appear to be trying to keep the possibility of a December rate hike alive since their last policy meeting," said Shinichiro Kadota, chief Japan forex strategist at Barclays.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that "liftoff" in interest rates in December was a live possibility, leading investors to think a rate hike will come next month unless economic indicators drastically weaken in coming weeks.
"There have been comments from Fed officials that appear to be attempting to lower the hurdle on the payroll increase. If payrolls increase about 170,000-180,000 as markets expect, rate hike expectations will heighten further," Barclays' Kadota said.
The median forecast for October nonfarm payrolls in a Reuters poll of economists is an increase of 180,000, above slightly sluggish job growth of 142,000 in September. The data is due at 1330 GMT.
Market focus was on how equities react to the jobs report if the data heightens prospects of a rate hike in December.
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