Dollar Rebounds and Continues Rise against Yen Prior to Nonfarm Payrolls Data

The dollar edged higher on Friday, continuing its bounce back against major currency peers including the Japanese yen, right before the release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report which could potentially give the Federal Reserve an impetus to hike interest rates by a half percentage point at its next monetary policy meeting in May.

According to Reuters, the dollar index climbed by 0.10% to 98.420 at 1:35am ET, extending its 0.50% rise from Thursday. The USD/JPY pair edged higher by 0.41%, marking the dollar’s first rise against the yen in four days.

Strategists at RBC Capital Markets contended, "The case for USD/JPY going much higher is still compelling as the Fed's rate hikes will revolutionize the hedging arithmetic for JPY-based investors and sensitivity to hedging costs is rising." They added, "Little of this flow is likely to have happened yet and the rally in March has been driven largely by investors outside Japan anticipating domestic JPY selling."

Markets are expecting the nonfarm payrolls data to show a lower unemployment rate and a higher wage growth on account of the country’s introduction of new jobs in the economy the previous month.

©Photo: Bloomberg