Asian session review: the dollar rose slightly against most currencies

During today's Asian trading, the US dollar rose slightly against the euro and the pound, but declined against the yen and the australian dollar.

The ICE index, which tracks the dollar's performance against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), rose 0.07%.

Strong data on the US economy released the day before, contributed to the growth of expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will have to start reducing stimulus earlier than it planned, as the US economy is recovering quickly and inflation is strengthening. This factor, as well as the growth in US Treasuries yields, following the news that the Fed will start selling corporate bonds purchased last year as part of the emergency lending mechanism for companies, supported the US currency.

The ISM index of business activity in the US services sector increased to a record 64 points in May, compared with 62.7 points a month earlier. Meanwhile, the number of applications for unemployment benefits in the United States, filed last week, decreased by 20 thousand - to 385 thousand, updating the record low since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The focus of the market on Friday is the US unemployment data for May, which should give investors a clearer picture of the situation in the labor market. Experts on average expect an increase in the number of jobs in May by 650 thousand and a decrease in unemployment to 5.9% from April's 6.1%.