TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - The dollar traded in a tight midafternoon range, with investors sidelined ahead of the release later today of the US non-farm payroll data, dealers said. Economists forecast a sharp fall in US September total nonfarm payroll employment due to the adverse impact of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. "If the data shows a much-worse-than-expected deterioration in the labour market, then concerns over the impact of the terrorist attacks on the US economy will resurface and the dollar will be sold back once again," North Pacific Bank foreign exchange manager Toshikazu Shimamura said. Investors refrained from taking positions aggressively also due to caution over the weekend meeting of the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors, dealers said. They said, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, speaking ahead of his visit to Washington for the G7 meeting, helped affirm these expectations when he said Japan's economic policy will not be on the agenda, along with the possibility of joint intervention in the foreign exchange market. "We will act in the forex market based on our own judgement, not in cooperation with other countries," Shiokawa said. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported earlier that Japanese delegates will call on their G7 partners to join Japan's efforts to halt the appreciation of the yen and will stress the need to maintain foreign exchange levels that are suitable to the economic fundamentals of each country. North Pacific's Shimamura said: "We also need to be alert to the prospect of a US military action against Afghanistan, with the speculation suggesting that it may be launched as early as next week." "Given these economic and political events ahead, investors will continue to see difficulties in driving the dollar/yen sector out of the present trading range." The euro was also rangebound ahead of the US employment data, but the currency is expected to maintain its underlying firmness on the back of economic and political factors, dealers said. "If the US military action is launched and if the mission is prolonged, the euro may test the 0.95 usd level," Shimamura said.