Dollar sags

Hot Now

TOKYO: The dollar was a touch lower on Wednesday, its modest advance from the previous day bogging down as investors started to take a wait-and-see attitude ahead of Friday´s U.S. jobs report.

The dollar last week hit a two-month high against a basket of currencies as Federal Reserve officials talked up the chances of a rate hike this month, but the greenback is now sitting in a narrow range with an increase seen largely as a done deal.

"The dollar´s upside looks limited as the market has almost fully priced in a March rate hike, with focus now shifting to how many times the Fed can tighten policy this year," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior forex strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.

"With attention on whether the Fed can conduct three hikes this year, Friday´s jobs data will provide important cues as to whether an inflation-inducing wage increase is taking place.

"The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.0561 after declining by about the same amount the previous day.

The dollar index, which hit 102.260 on March 2, inched down 0.1 percent to 101.740. It gained about 0.15 percent overnight, when the dollar was buoyed by declines in European peers.