The dollar advanced on Wednesday rebounding from the lowest level touched in two months as speculators reduced their short positions on efforts to take profits ahead of the crucial U.S. non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

According to the ADP National Employment report, private U.S. firms employed far fewer people in March than forecast, pointing to a slowing job market.

Last month, there were 145,000 more jobs in the private sector. Reuters questioned economists earlier who had predicted a 200,000 surge in private employment.

On Wednesday, yet another data showed that the economy was still poor, but this time it was in the services sector. A gauge of prices paid by services businesses fell to the lowest level in nearly three years in March, and that industry slowed down more than anticipated as demand cooled.

The dollar index ticked up by 0.2% to 101.75.

EUR/USD slumped by 0.3% to $1.0925.

USD/JPY slipped by 0.6% to 130.92.