Dollar unchanged ahead of payrolls report (MarketWatch) (05-03-2010)

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The dollar gained ground on the Japanese yen but slipped a tad versus the euro as traders awaited the release of February U.S. employment data.

The euro was trading at $1.3587, up slightly from $1.3577 late Thursday in range-bound trade.

Greece's sale Thursday of a 5 billion euro 10-year bond, with a coupon of 6.2% following the announcement this week of additional austerity measures helped remove some of the Greek-related stress that has plagued the euro, analysts said.

While worries over sovereign debt issues continue to linger, events over the past day indicate the worst of the crisis may be over at least for now, said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT.

The Labor Department will release U.S. February employment data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect non-farm payrolls to decline by 90,000, with the unemployment rate expected to tick up to 9.8%.

The dollar rose against the Japanese currency, to buy 89.31 yen, up from 89.12 yen in late North American trading Thursday.

The yen weakened in Asian trade after a report suggested the Bank of Japan might consider further easing steps.

Source: MarketWatch