European session review: USD little changed ahead of U.S. September jobs data

USD traded flat against other major currencies in the European session on Friday as investors looked for the release of the U.S.  jobs report for September, due at 12:30 GMT.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), measuring the U.S. currency's value relative to a basket of foreign currencies, edged down 0.06% to 94.16.

It is expected that the strong jobs data will support the Federal Reserve's move towards tightening. In his press conference that followed the Fed's September policy meeting, the U.S. central bank’s chairman Jerome Powell stated that a slowing of the pace of bond purchases could start after the November 2-3 meeting if the U.S. job growth through September is "reasonably strong”. He also added that "it wouldn't take a knockout or super-strong employment report" to begin the "taper" of the bond-buying program, with the process expected to end by mid-2022.

Economists forecast the September employment report will show the world's biggest economy added 500,000 jobs last month after 235,000 in August. The unemployment rate is seen to slip to 5.1% in September from 5.2% in August.