Forex - US dollar lower in Sydney afternoon in thin holiday-affected trade

Forex - US dollar lower in Sydney afternoon in thin holiday-affected trade

	Published : Thu, 03 May 2007 05:55 By : Agencies Print this Story

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - The US dollar was softer against the yen and euro here as players await the opening of European and US markets amidst subdued trade with the Japanese and Chinese markets closed for holidays, dealers said.

They said traders are hoping tonight's euro zone producer price inflation data for March or the latest US ISM services survey for April will provide opportunities to break out of the current tight trading ranges, although this is unlikely ahead of Friday's key non-farm payrolls report.

At 2:16 pm (0416 GMT) here, the dollar was at 120.18 yen, down from 120.21 in morning trade while the euro was at 1.3605 usd up from 1.3594 earlier.

CMC Markets' chief analyst Ashraf Laidi said the overnight release of the US ADP employment survey, which rose just 64,000 in April compared to forecasts for a 100,000 gain, raises the possibility of a payrolls figure of as low as 80,000 on Friday.

He said this would resurrect concerns that the US slowdown is further spilling over into US labor markets.

Laidi noted the US dollar/yen pair's break back above the 120.00 level overnight for the first time in two months came about amid a combination of thin trading volumes in Asian trade, as well as support for the US unit from Tuesday's strong US April ISM manufacturing survey.

He said the prospect of further gains in this trade will largely depend on the US side of the pair, with both tonight's services ISM and Friday's payrolls having the potential to act as key catalysts in defining the direction.

Sydney 2.16 pm (0416 GMT) vs Sydney 9.47 am (2347 GMT)

US dollar

120.18 yen vs 120.21 yen

1.2134 sfr vs 1.2138 sfr

Euro

1.3605 usd vs 1.3594 usd

163.55 yen vs 163.39 yen

1.6509 sfr vs 1.6499 sfr

0.6834 stg vs 0.6831 stg

Sterling

1.9906 usd vs 1.9902 usd

239.22 yen vs 239.15 yen

2.4154 sfr vs 2.4154 sfr

Australian dollar

0.8250 usd vs 0.8246 usd

0.4143 stg vs 0.4143 stg

99.125 yen vs 99.110 yen

New Zealand dollar

0.7385 usd vs 0.7378 usd

paul.daniel@xfn.com