December 09, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1428

NEW YORK, Dec 8: The dollar traded mixed on Friday as the market braced for next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting and reacted to a US employment report suggesting sluggish growth ahead.

The euro drifted up to 1.4656 dollars at 2200 GMT from 1.4633 dollars late on Thursday in New York.

The dollar edged up to 111.65 yen from 111.28.

The Labour Department said the world’s biggest economy generated 94,000 new jobs in November after 170,000 in October.

Economists had expected hiring in November would slow to around 70,000 new positions. The report is consistent with slowing economic growth, but not necessarily a harbinger of a severe economic downturn that some analysts have predicted.

David Rodriguez, currency analyst at Forex Capital Markets, expressed surprise that the dollar failed to gain from the report even though it suggested the US economy is holding firm and the Federal Reserve may not cut rates as aggressively as anticipated.Still, there was some trepidation ahead of Tuesday’s Fed policy meeting where traders are widely anticipating a rate cut, most likely a quarter-point, in the federal funds rate of 4.50 percent.—AFP