Forex: USD up payrolls get a bump, China trade negotiations back on

The U.S. dollar was marginally higher Friday morning in Asia following a surprise increase in payrolls in the U.S. and positive signs in the trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.

The US Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies was up 0.02% to 98.44 by 10:01 PM ET (02:01 GMT).

After a difficult weekend that saw tariffs take effect both in China and the U.S., officials from both sides suggested that negotiations would kick off again in October.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) set the reference rate for the yuan at 7.0855, compared to Thursday’s fix of 7.0852.

The dollar was helped along by new data showing that private payrolls grew by 195,000 in August, higher than the expected 140,000 bump expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

“Businesses are holding firm on their payrolls despite the slowing economy,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, in a statement quoted by CNBC. “Hiring has moderated, but layoffs remain low.”

The USD/JPY pair traded up 0.14% at 107.07. The moves in the yen follow data out Friday showing household spending increased 0.8% in July from a year earlier. While the increase was lower than the 2.7% recorded in June, it marked the eighth consecutive month of expansion and the longest stretch since 2000, when comparable data first became available.

The AUD/USD pair was flat at 0.6814 while the NZD/USD pair was up 0.13% to 0.6381.

Investors are expecting a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday as well as a new jobs report in the U.S.