The US Dollar struck a 3-week peak against the Japanese Yen during Asian trade on Friday. Analysts say that expectations and hopes that a resolution to the ongoing trade war between China and the United States could be soon resolved are helping to improve risk sentiment. This week, the US Dollar has appreciated about 0.85%, which was also a result of an improvement in global risk appetite as well as upbeat data from the U.S. On Thursday, Donald Trump had said that a deal is expected to be announced within a month's time.
As reported at 10:31 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading higher at 111.6740 Yen, up 0.0475%; the pair is moving off the session peak of 111.803 Yen, while the low was set at 111.600 Yen. The AUD/USD was trading at $0.712, up 0.1294%; the pair has ranged from a trough of $0.71077 to $0.71239.
US Payroll Data in Focus
Later today, the US Department of Labor will be releasing the March numbers for private sector new hires; currently, the forecast is calling for a drop in the figures to 180,000 from 200,000 in February. Economists and analysts are also predicting that average hourly earnings will be stagnant at 3.4% for the period. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 3.8%. Wednesday's ADP figures which traders often use as a gauge for the government's Non-Farms Payroll report, vastly undershot expectations with only 129,000 new jobs added against expectations of 170,000. A disappointment in the NFP numbers would weigh on Dollar sentiment as it could impact the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook.