By Hiroyuki Kachi 
 

The dollar was a tad higher against the yen and the euro in rangebound Asia trade Wednesday, as investors awaited key events later this week such as the U.S. jobs data.

Around 0450 GMT, the greenback was at Y123.05 compared with Y122.87 late Tuesday in New York,

Although investors have already increased their bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start raising rates in the middle of this month, the pace of dollar purchases has slowed after downbeat U.S. manufacturing report hinted at gradual U.S. rate increases next year.

U.S. manufacturing contracted in November for the first time since the end of 2012, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed.

But the dollar's losses have been limited as investors remain on the sidelines ahead of potentially market-moving events such as a European Central Bank policy meeting scheduled Thursday and the U.S. labor data Friday.

"We probably are seeing the calm before the storm," said Yuzo Sakai, manager of foreign-exchange business promotion at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow. "There is no need to test both upside and downside ahead of the event," said Mr. Sakai.

The dollar is now hovering around a level investors consider "comfortable," until they find their next trading cues, said Mr. Sakai.

For now, investors are awaiting a speech by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen later today.

Despite a falloff in U.S. Treasury yields after the soft ISM manufacturing report, "it's hard to imagine Mrs. Yellen will turn pessimistic," said Toshiyuki Umekawa, senior vice president of forex division at Mizuho Bank, adding that the dollar may gain again after investors adjust their current positions .

The U.S. currency was slightly stronger against the euro, which declined to $1.0618 midday from $1.0632 late Tuesday. The common currency was unchanged at Y130.62.

In other currency trade pairs, the Australian dollar advanced after the nation's resource-rich economy showed a strong expansion in the third quarter on the back of a surge in commodity exports.

The Australian dollar touched $0.7343, its highest since Oct. 15, from $0.7331 late Tuesday, but then stabilized at $0.7312 midday on profit taking. The Aussie also rose to a fresh three-month high of Y90.24 from Y90.07 soon after the Australia's GDP release in the morning, but then weakened to Y89.97 midday.

The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.11% at 90.57.

 
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT 
 
                           Latest       Previous   %Chg    Daily    Daily   %Chg 
Dollar Rates                               Close            High      Low  12/31 
 
USD/JPY Japan           123.05-06      122.87-88  +0.15   123.07   122.82  +2.78 
EUR/USD Euro            1.0617-20      1.0632-35  -0.14   1.0642   1.0615 -12.23 
GBP/USD U.K.            1.5065-67      1.5082-84  -0.11   1.5083   1.5064  -3.29 
USD/CHF Switzerland     1.0267-71      1.0257-61  +0.10   1.0272   1.0254  +3.28 
USD/CAD Canada          1.3372-77      1.3356-61  +0.12   1.3377   1.3356 +15.08 
AUD/USD Australia       0.7309-13      0.7321-25  -0.16   0.7330   0.7306 -10.53 
NZD/USD New Zealand     0.6663-69      0.6675-81  -0.18   0.6679   0.6653 -14.48 
 
Euro Rate 
 
EUR/JPY Japan           130.62-66      130.59-63  +0.02   130.69   130.51  -9.87 
 
Source: Tullett Prebon 
 

Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2015 01:08 ET (06:08 GMT)