Dollar in tight range ahead of US jobs data

TOKYO: The dollar stayed in a narrow range Friday as cautious investors awaited the release of US jobs data, while the euro remained weaker after the European Central Bank dampened rate hike speculation.

Trading was lackluster, with the Lunar New Year holidays keeping many regional players away from the market, dealers said.

The dollar stood at 81.55 yen, little changed from 81.59 yen in New York.

The euro bought $1.3632 and 111.20 yen, little changed from $1.3630 and 112.23 yen in New York.

The euro recorded its sharpest decline in 10 weeks on Thursday from $1.38 to around $1.36 as the ECB kept interest rates on hold and bank president Jean-Claude Trichet struck a less hawkish tone than previously.

Investors were focused on US non-farm payrolls data due later in the global day.

"The market will likely react more to worse-than-expected results than better-than-expected results," Masafumi Yamamoto, chief foreign exchange strategist at Barclays Bank in Japan, said in a report.

The directionless forex trade came despite a comment by US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday that the US recovery was gaining pace -- the comment boosted Wall Street.

It is too early to guess what path the US Federal Reserve will take after the second round of quantitative easing ends in June, Akira Hoshino, a senior dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Bernanke's "confidence in the monetary easing, given he does not talk about negative effects of it," makes it difficult to predict whether the programme will end in June, Hoshino said.

Political turmoil in Egypt also helped buoy safe-haven units as anti-government demonstrators prepare another major rally against President Hosni Mubarak.

The dollar was mixed against regional Asian currencies.

It rose to Sg$1.2738 from Sg$1.2731 on Thursday, but was flat at 1,113.60 Korean won and Tw$29.02.

The dollar slipped to 30.80 Thai baht from 30.87, to 9,028.00 Indonesian rupiah from 9,030.00, and to 43.78 Philippine pesos from 43.94.