US Dollar firm on the upside, near 96.30

The greenback – tracked by the US Dollar Index – keeps its march north intact so far this week, currently testing daily highs in the vicinity of 96.30.

US Dollar boosted by data, Fed

The index is advancing since Monday backed by rising speculations on a rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its December meeting and auspicious results from the US manufacturing and services sectors.

On a less bright note, the ADP report has come in short of estimates yesterday, removing some optimism from traders ahead of the upcoming Non-farm Payrolls. Market bets expect the US economy to have added 172K jobs during September and the jobless rate to stay out at 4.9%.

In the meantime, and based on Fed Funds futures prices, CME Group’s FedWatch tool sees the probability of a Fed’s rate hike at nearly 52% in December and above 15% for the next month, although opinions among investors places the former as the most likely candidate.

US Dollar relevant levels

The index is advancing 0.15% at 96.27 and a break above 96.50 (high Aug.5) would open the door to 97.62 (high Jul.25) and then 98.59 (high Mar.3). On the downside, the initial support aligns at 95.93 (200-day sma) ahead of 95.01 (support line off 2016 low) and finally 94.44 (low Sep.8).