NEW YORK (Reuters) - The yen posted strong gains for a third straight session on Thursday, while sterling fell yet again, retreating from early gains as risk appetite crumbled in afternoon trading with the decline in major U.S. stock indexes and commodity prices.
The British pound recovered in the London session and the first half of New York trading, then slid again as investors grew a little cautious ahead of a crucial U.S. non-farms payroll report due on Friday. The consensus forecast is for a 175,000 jobs gain for June, according to a Reuters poll, but investors remained wary given the unexpected negative surprise in payrolls the previous month.Friday's U.S. job report is expected to have the most impact on the dollar/yen currency pair. Since the beginning of the year, the dollar has fallen 19 percent versus the Japanese currency."For dollar/yen to have a positive response to non-farm payrolls, we would need to see payrolls rise by 200,000 or more and see average hourly earnings growth hold steady or exceed 0.2 percent," said Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York."Given the magnitude of last month's disappointment, that's a lot to ask for. However in order for any recovery to be sustained, we need to see payrolls rise by 250,000 or more, otherwise the reversal post-data will be quick and aggressive," she added. In late trading, sterling slipped 0.1 percent against the dollar at $1.2919