Forex - Dollar slide against major ahead of Non-farm payroll

The Dollar fell against major currencies on Thursday ahead of a government report expected to show the US economy lost more than half a million jobs in December for the second month in a row. Worries about the US labor market took center stage after an ADP survey earlier this week pointed to steep job losses in the private sector. It showed private-sector job cuts of 693k, economists have revised downward their forecasts for US nonfarm payrolls in December to show job losses of 550k, from an original estimate of 500k. Weekly jobless claims data showed the number of Americans on the unemployment rolls rising to a 26-year high. The Dollar had rallied in the first days of 2009, helped by the US stimulus package that many hope would pull the economy out of recession. But that optimism was short-lived as most recent US data reignited fears of a prolonged slowdown. The Yen traded broadly higher as falling global stocks and weak sales at top US retailer Wal-Mart tempered the market's appetite for risk and renewed fears about the global economic outlook. Sterling, meanwhile, bounced to 3-week highs against the Dollar and Euro after the Bank of England cut interest rates by 50bp, as expected, to 1.5%. EurUsd rose 0.6% to 1.3697 after falling to an intraday low of 1.3535. EurJpy was 0.88% lower at 125.18. GbpUsd rose 1.01% to 1.5224 having hit 1.5373 high. UsdJpy was down 1.46% at 91.39. UsdChf lost 0.85% to 1.0943.