Thursday, January 8, 2009

FOREX-U.S. dollar falls broadly on bleak ADP report

Dollar is still falling. Dollar falls after weaker-than-expected ADP report

* Euro still seen vulnerable with pressure staying on ECB

* Euro zone PPI falls more than expected; German jobless up (Recasts, adds quotes, U.S. data, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The dollar fell across the board on Wednesday, reversing sharp gains against the euro earlier this week, as steep job losses in the private sector reignited fears of a prolonged U.S. recession.

The report, compiled by ADP Employer Services, pointed to dismal news from the U.S. government's non-farm payrolls report on Friday and may prompt some analysts to lower their already weak forecasts for the month. A Reuters poll shows U.S. non-farm jobs are expected to drop by 500,000 in December.

The dollar pushed back from nearly one-month highs against the euro and five-week peaks versus the yen, with investors locking in gains, including central bank buying of euros at lower levels for reserve-management purposes and interest from funds.

"The initial shock (of the private sector jobs report) is a big one, and the market was leaning toward selling dollars to begin with today," said Steven Butler, director FX trading at Scotia Capital in Toronto.

He said in the past, the data has been unreliable, but "it's still a pretty ugly number and should keep the dollar under pressure for the rest of the session

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