A strong ADP released may be give an indication to Friday’s NFP.

Just two days before Friday’s NFP, U.S. non-farm private employment rose much more than expected in January, boosting optimism over the health of the labor market, industry data showed on Wednesday.

Payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose by a seasonally adjusted 246,000 last month, easily surpassing forecasts for an increase of 165,000.

The economy created 151,000 jobs in December, which was revised slightly lower from an initial reading of 153,000.

While not viewed as a reliable guide for the government jobs report due on Friday, February 3, it does give some guidance on private-sector hiring.

USD/JPY was at 113.55 compared to 113.30 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/USD was trading at 1.0773 from around 1.0786, while GBP/USD was at 1.2617 from 1.2634 earlier.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 99.73, compared to 99.62 ahead of the report.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open. The Dow futures indicated a gain of 0.2%, the S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0.25%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.6%.

Elsewhere, in the commodities market, Gold futures traded at $1,209.00 a troy ounce, compared to $1,212.20 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $53.20 a barrel from $53.23 earlier.