* Dlr mostly steady to firmer, kiwi dives on NZ jobless jump
* Aussie slips after soft retail sales figures
* Euro wobbly as eurozone fiscal problems fester
* Focus on ECB and BOE meetings later in the day
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The dollar was broadly steady on
Thursday after blipping higher as the New Zealand dollar tumbled
on a jump in unemployment and the Australian dollar slipped on
data showing a dip in monthly retail sales.
Activity in Asia slowed by afternoon as the market focus
turned to rate announcements due from the European Central Bank
and the Bank of England.
The New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> hit a five-month low of
$0.6960 after data showed the country's jobless rate rising to a
10-year high, prompting markets to scale back expectations of an
interest rate rise before mid-year. []
The Australian dollar remained on a weak footing in the wake
of the Reserve Bank of Australia's surprise decision this week to
hold off from raising interest rates.
The Aussie dollar touched a six-week low of $0.8772 <AUD=D4>
after figures showing Australia's retail sales fell more than
expected in December, although that came after an upwardly
revised jump in November. []
The fall in higher-yielding currencies helped lend broad
support to the dollar, especially with the euro on shaky ground
due to fresh fears that Portugal and Spain could join Greece as
the next countries to face fiscal problems.
"Market players are now watching to see if the euro's fall
will stop at $1.3850 or if it will keep heading toward $1.3700 or
maybe even $1.3500," said a trader for a major Japanese bank.
The euro dipped as low as $1.3866 <EUR=>, edging close to a
seven-month low of $1.3851 hit on trading platform EBS earlier
this week. Market players said there was talk of option triggers
near $1.3850, and more below that at levels such as $1.3800,
$1.3760 and $1.3750.
The euro later pared its losses and was steady compared to
late U.S. trading on Wednesday at $1.3890.
The ECB is widely expected to keep rates unchanged at its
meeting on Thursday as financial woes in Greece, Portugal and
Spain endanger the currency bloc's recovery. [].
The Bank of England is expected to halt its quantitative
easing programme, although interest rates are seen likely to be
held at 0.5 percent. []
Sterling was nearly flat on the day at $1.5899 <GBP=D4>.
DOLLAR INDEX
Festering euro zone fiscal problems add to the view that the
United States will recover at a faster pace than the eurozone, a
belief that is likely to see the dollar gain further ground.
The dollar index was steady at 79.415 <.DXY>, after rising to
79.520 earlier. The dollar index faces resistance near its
six-month high of 79.534 hit earlier in the week and then around
80.07, which would be a 38.2 percent retracement of the fall from
89.624 to 74.17 in 2009.
The dollar dipped 0.1 percent against the yen to 90.91
<JPY=>, ceding some ground after hitting a two-week high of 91.28
yen on Wednesday helped by better economic data out of the United
States and higher U.S. yields.
U.S. data on Wednesday showed signs the job market was
stabilising while the Institute for Supply Management's index of
non-manufacturing companies rose to 50.5 from 49.8 in December.
[].
All that bodes well for the nonfarm payrolls numbers due on
Friday. A Reuters poll of top 20 forecasters estimated 8,000 jobs
were added to the economy. That compares with a forecast of 5,000
jobs being added in a larger survey of 80 economists.
[]
After trimming its earlier losses, the Australian dollar was
0.2 percent lower on the day at $0.8811 <AUD=D4> with traders
eyeing the December low of $0.8735.
The Aussie was down 0.2 percent at 80.06 yen <AUDJPY=R>,
hovering near a six-week low of around 79.00 yen hit earlier this
week. Data showed Japanese FX margin traders cut their net long
positions in Aussie/yen on Wednesday to 176,029, down from a
record high of 180,740 lots the day before.
The New Zealand dollar slid 0.6 percent to $0.6978 <NZD=D4>.
($1=.6888 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney, and Charlotte
Cooper, Satomi Noguchi and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; Editing by
Michael Watson)
