EUR/USD oscillates around 0.9800 as investors prepare for US employment data

The EUR/USD pair displays back-and-forth moves around 0.9800 in the early Tokyo session. The asset has turned sideways in a 0.9780-0.9815 range as the currency domain is developing itself ahead of the US employment data. For a while, the shared currency bulls are expected to drive the asset higher as it has concluded the corrective move below 0.9750 after hitting a high of 0.9850.

On Friday, the US dollar index (DXY) displayed a lackluster performance despite a higher-than-expected core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index, Federal Reserve (Fed) preferred inflation tool to gauge inflation. The economic data landed at 4.9%, higher than the expectations and the prior release of 4.7%.

The impact was expected lower as the market participants have already displayed their response toward the more-than-predicted release of the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) and core CPI for September. In response, the Fed also hiked the interest rate by 75 basis points (bps) for the third consecutive time.

Going forward, the US employment data will hog the limelight. As per the consensus, the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) will land at 250k vs. the prior release of 315k. While the Unemployment Rate will remain steady at 3.7%.

On the Eurozone front, the Eurozone Retail Sales data will be of utmost importance. The economic data is expected to decline by 1.7% against a decline of 0.9% reported earlier. When the inflation rate is mounting firmly, a decline in Retail Sales is a cause of worry. Meanwhile, investors should be aware that German markets are closed on Monday because of the Day of German Unity.