Currencies rangebound

The US Dollar continued to remain rangebound against the major currencies as players look forward to today's US April non-farm payrolls data.
Weekly jobless claims in the US rose by 11,000 to 333,000 in the week ending April 30 but market ignored the data and concentrated more on today's employment data release. US non-farm productivity rose by 2.6% on the year in Q1 against a 2.1% rise in Q4.
Meanwhile, Sterling slipped off its highs near 1.9100 after exit polls showed a narrow victory for Britain's ruling Labour Party headed by Tony Bliar. On the data front too, UK Services PMI fell to 56.5 in April against 57.0 in the previous month as per expectations.
In other news, the bond ratings of top US auto-makers, General Motors and Ford Motors, were downgraded to 'junk' status by Standard and Poor.

Outlook for the day
EUR/USD - Euro is expected to trade flat in a technical 1.29-1.30 range (before non-farm payroll data). We recommend exporters to take partial cover near 1.3000.
GBP/USD - GBP too is expected to trade in 1.8975-1.9075 range before the US employment data.
USD/JPY - USD/Yen is expected to trade in 104.25-105.25 range. Exporters are advised to take partial cover near 104.25.