The dollar was steady against major currencies as the market focused on today's US non-farm payrolls report, which is expected to show healthy jobs growth last month. After a strong ADP report on private non-farm payrolls earlier this week, investors have been gradually upgrading their forecasts for today's key jobs data, although the ADP numbers are often seen as volatile and an unreliable indicator of the payrolls outcome, analysts said. "The market is poised for a good (payrolls) number," said Daragh Maher at Calyon. He added that various other "little nuggets of information" recently have sent a more upbeat signal on the US jobs market, including lower initial jobless claims figures and the employment components of consumer sentiment surveys. This means, however, that the market could see a "more pronounced reaction" in the event of a disappointing number, he said. A strong reading today would support the market's view that the Federal Reserve is not set to cut interest rates in the near term, lending support to the dollar. Yesterday, the dollar failed to suffer much in response to the key ISM survey showing a contraction in US manufacturing activity during January after the euro failed to rally through the 1.3050 usd level. Elsewhere, the euro steadied against the pound after weakening yesterday in response to the diverging trends between the manufacturing PMI surveys for the euro zone and the UK, with the former coming in weak and the latter coming in firmer. HBOS currency analyst Steve Pearson said the euro could be set to recover some of its recent losses against the pound, particularly given that short-sterling interest rate futures contracts continue to discount two Bank of England interest rate rises. In the absence of any major UK data today, however, trading is likely to be "relatively quiet as the market awaits this afternoon's US non-farm payroll report", he said