Dollar steady ahead of US jobs report

The dollar was steady ahead of a key US jobs report later Friday, while the euro struggled after the European Central Bank released details of an unprecedented monetary easing plan designed to lift the faltering eurozone economy.

In afternoon Tokyo trade, the greenback bought 120.01 yen, weakening from 120.14 yen in New York but it was still up from 119.85 yen in Tokyo earlier Thursday.

The single currency bought $1.1024 against $1.1028 in US trade where it fell below $1.10 for the first time since September 2003.

It is sharply down from around $1.12 at the beginning of the week.

The euro slipped to 132.29 yen from 132.50 yen in New York.

"The euro's sharp plunge is elevating the dollar," Takeru Kurokawa, an analyst in Tokyo at Ueda Harlow, wrote in a client note. "Payrolls within expectations should be dollar supportive."

The US Labor Department releases jobs data later Friday, which investors will pore over for clues about the state of the world's top economy, and when the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates.

Analysts forecast job growth slipped to 240,000 in February from 257,000 in January, while the unemployment rate edged down to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent.

The lower expectations -- following a surge in January -- come on the back of a series of disappointing economic data that have cast doubt on how well the labour market has held up.

On Thursday, ECB chief Mario Draghi said the bank will start buying government debt in its new 1.1 trillion euro quantitative easing programme on Monday.

The eurozone's top central banker also offered some upbeat news, saying the ECB was raising its growth forecasts for the 19-nation bloc, although he added that inflation would come in at zero this year, lower than previously projected.

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It weakened to 1,098.26 South Korean won from 1,100.05 won on Thursday, to 12,836.00 Indonesian rupiah from 13,026.50 rupiah and to Tw$31.41 from Tw$31.45.

The greenback also declined to Sg$1.3689 from Sg$1.3694 and to 62.17 Indian rupees from 62.24 rupees while it rose to 44.27 Philippine pesos from 44.15 pesos and to 32.55 Thai baht from 32.42 baht.

The Australian dollar bought 78 US cents against 77.93 cents, while the Chinese yuan fetched 19.15 yen against 19.12 yen.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --