Dollar up before jobs data, stocks steady on Greece

The US dollar firmed up around a three-week high on Thursday ahead of a key jobs data release, while stocks were largely treading water as Greece’s debt talks were put on ice ahead of Sunday’s referendum.

Shares in Europe were steady after Asian markets rose overnight, although stocks in China fell again to take their losses in recent weeks to 25 per cent.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent in unspectacular morning trading, with investors in limbo as the European Commission’s chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas confirmed that talks with Athens are on hold until the vote on Sunday.

Germany’s DAX and the French CAC 40 were flat after Wednesday’s gains on hopes that prime minister Alexis Tsipras was ready to agree bailout terms with its creditors.

The euro continued to hold firm as investors watched for the key US non-farm payrolls data due out on Thursday, a day earlier than normal as US markets are closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of currencies, rose to its highest in three weeks as analysts expected another strong showing for June’s employment figures.

Sterling was steady around a two-week low against the dollar, while the buck was up against the yen.

New Zealand’s dollar dropped to fresh five-year lows against its US counterpart, while the Aussie slid to its lowest level since March.

After May saw the US economy add 280,000 jobs, investors were braced for data that could move the Federal Reserve closer to hiking interest rates this year.

Concerns about Greece and the direction of the US economy continue to play on market sentiment.

The Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, said he would resign if Greeks voted in favour of the proposed bailout terms.

“I prefer to cut my arm off rather than sign an agreement without debt restructuring,” he told Bloomberg in an interview.

Meanwhile, a report compiled by Greece’s creditors warned the country’s debt would be unsustainable by 2030 even with a bailout, heaping further fuel on the fire as polls put Sunday's referendum result on a knife-edge.