2018.07.0514:32:00UTC+00Dollar Little Changed Ahead Of Jobs Report

The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its major rivals Thursday afternoon, but remains little changed overall. Traders are in a cautious mood ahead of tomorrow's all-important U.S. jobs report, after a pair of weaker than expected pieces of employment data were released this morning.

Private sector employment in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of June, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Thursday. ADP said private sector employment climbed by 177,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 189,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to rise by about 190,000 jobs compared to the addition of 178,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 30th.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 231,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 228,000. The modest increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to edge down to 225,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Thursday showed growth in activity in the U.S. service sector unexpectedly accelerated in the month of June.

The ISM said its non-manufacturing index rose to 59.1 in June after climbing to 58.6 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to edged down to 58.3.

The dollar dropped to a low of $1.1720 against the Euro Thursday, but has since rebounded to around $1.1685.

Germany's factory orders expanded for the first time in five months in May, largely on robust domestic demand. Factory orders grew 2.6 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to a revised 1.6 percent drop in April, data from Destatis showed Thursday. Orders were expected to climb moderately by 1.1 percent.

Germany's construction sector growth remained robust in June, despite easing from the previous month, survey data from IHS Markit showed Thursday. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 53.0 in June from 53.9 in May. However, any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The buck fell to a low of $1.3274 against the pound sterling Thursday, but has since bounced back to around $1.3215.

The greenback slid to an early low of Y110.288 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since risen to around Y110.665.