FX.co ★ Dollar Slips Ahead of More Jobs Data

The U.S. dollar index softened to approximately 99.1 on Wednesday, relinquishing a portion of the gains made in the previous session, as investors braced for a series of labor market reports poised to influence the Federal Reserve’s policy direction. Market attention is now directed toward the ADP private payrolls report slated for release on Wednesday, followed by the weekly jobless claims on Thursday, and culminating with the highly anticipated May jobs report on Friday. Data released on Tuesday revealed that JOLTs job openings had unexpectedly increased to 7.39 million in April, rising from March's revised figure of 7.2 million and significantly surpassing the 7.1 million forecast, highlighting ongoing resilience within the labor market. Despite pressure from President Trump for rate cuts, Federal Reserve officials are largely in favor of maintaining current rates due to prevailing trade policy uncertainties. The dollar experienced widespread weakening, with the most pronounced decline against the South Korean won after opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's election as president, which alleviated political uncertainty in the region.