The dollar came under further pressure this afternoon on concern for US unemployment ahead of the October monthly jobless report At 1300, the dollar sell off had pushed the euro up 0.6pc to 99.60c, just 0.40c off parity with the greenback. The declines came as the market faced up forecasts that US non-farm payrolls could have dropped by as much as 20,000 in October. Just a week ago, economists had expected to see payrolls grow by 2,000. In September, payrolls tumbled by more than 40,000 The euro also benefited from expectations that Wall St will open lower this afternoon, extending overnight losses.
A poor result from the Labour Department and a weak opening by US equities could be enough to push the euro to dollar parity, although it may not hold that level for long as traders cash in on the recent euro surge The single currency also made ground on sterling today, jumping to 63.67p from 63.30p this morning, despite the publication of weaker than expected eurozone manufacturing data and in line British manufacturing figures //www.fxcentre.com