Dollar is stable with the continued resilience of the US economy

Dollar index futures moved in narrow ranges on Friday as investors awaited a key report on US jobs and assessed the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates for a longer period in light of economic growth expectations.

The US Nonfarm Payrolls report is due later on Friday, while the US economy is expected to have added 225,000 jobs in June.

The well-watched report follows data on Thursday that showed a jump in the number of private sector jobs last month and a moderate increase in the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week, indicating that the labor market remains strong.

This sent US Treasury yields higher as bets increased that the central bank should continue to raise interest rates to curb inflation, keeping the dollar higher in early Asian trade on Friday.

Against the US currency, the euro fell 0.02 percent to $1.0890, while the New Zealand dollar rose 0.09 percent to $0.6163, making up for some of the previous session’s losses.

The British pound was also lower against the dollar, recording $1.2734 in its latest trading. This came despite its rise on Thursday to a two-week high of $1.2780, as markets bet that the Bank of England will raise interest rates to 6.5% early next year, compared to earlier expectations for a hike to 6.25%.

The dollar index rose 0.03 percent to 103.12.

The yen recorded 144.06 per dollar in its latest trading, and is heading for a slight weekly gain, after losing for three consecutive weeks.

The Australian dollar rose 0.09 percent to $ 0.66315, but it appears that it will incur a loss for the third consecutive week, under pressure from the faltering economic recovery in China.