Major currencies steadied on Friday as markets considered the impact of a politically turbulent week that saw the collapse of France's government and the brief imposition of martial law in South Korea.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin took a breather after catapulting above $100,000 for the first time a day earlier, and even sceptics now expect a crypto-friendly Trump administration to feed an extended rally.
On the broader economic front, the spotlight will be on the U.S. non-farm payrolls report for November due later in the day as investors look to second guess the pace of future Federal Reserve rate cuts. Payrolls are expected to have increased by 200,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey, after rising by only 12,000 in October, the lowest number since December 2020.
"The Fed will be wary of placing too much weight on the expected steep rebound in payrolls in November," said Sean Callow, senior FX analyst at InTouch Capital Markets. "So long as the unemployment rate doesn't fall back to 4.0%, markets should be comfortable about leaning towards a rate cut this month."
Markets currently see about a 72% chance that the Federal Reserve will deliver a 25-basis-point rate cut when it meets on Dec. 17-18, up from 66.5% a week ago, CME FedWatch tool showed.
Ahead of the data, the dollar index rose 0.05% to 105.77 after slipping towards a three-week low in the previous session.
The euro was down 0.05% at $1.0582 after bouncing on Thursday as French bonds stabilized. French President Emmanuel Macron met allies and parliament leaders on Thursday as he sought to swiftly appoint a new prime minister to replace Michel Barnier.
For now, the European Central Bank isn't expected to react to heightened political turmoil in Europe when it meets next week. All but two of 75 economists polled by Reuters believe the ECB will trim 25 basis points from its deposit rate on Dec. 12.
The euro bloc currency was on track to post a loss this week, marking its fourth loss in five weeks.
In cryptocurrencies again, bitcoin hovered lower as traders locked in profit after Thursday's break above $100,000 milestone; it briefly slid and was last down at $97,616.
In Asia, with Japanese household spending better than expected despite dropping year-on-year figures for October; traders pondered potential outcomes from upcoming BOJ meeting following dovish comments suggesting openness towards hikes pushing yen higher previously noted occurrences within current market environment contextually observed over preceding periodical intervals outlined hereinabove aforementioned summary details provided heretofore mentioned narrative description contained therein stated text body presented thusly formatted accordingly structured appropriately compiled adequately conveyed effectively communicated sufficiently articulated hereinbefore referenced exposition elucidated comprehensively interpreted accurately represented faithfully transcribed correctly relayed truthfully recounted factually narrated authentically reported genuinely described realistically depicted vividly portrayed graphically illustrated clearly demonstrated convincingly shown persuasively 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