U.S. dollar flat ahead of employment data, Sino-U.S. trade talks

The U.S. dollar was little changed on Friday in Asia ahead of the release of non-farm payroll data, due later today, and a new round of Sino-U.S. trade talks next week.

The U.S. Dollar Index traded 0.01% higher to 98.553 by 1:19 AM ET (05:19 GMT).

Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. private sector hiring cooled in September, the latest indication that the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing is hurting the world’s largest economy.

That added to fears sparked on Tuesday when a report showed U.S. factory activity contracted to its lowest level in more than a decade.

Traders look ahead to the key monthly American non-farm payrolls data due later in the day. Subsequent comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is also expected to generate some attention.

Sino-U.S. trade developments are expected to be in focus, as U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight that a delegation from China would go to Washington next week for more trade talks.

“China’s coming in next week. We’re going to have a meeting with them. We’ll see. But we’re doing very well,” Trump said before leaving on a trip to Florida.

“I have a lot of options on China. But if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power,” he added.

The safe-haven yen inched up against the U.S. dollar as stock markets in Asia traded lower. The USD/JPY pair last traded at 106.81, down 0.1%.

The AUD/USD pair and the NZD/USD pair gained 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.