The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was nearly flat on the day at 88.701 , holding above a three-year low of 88.429 set one week ago but still down0.4 percent for the week.
The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries reached a high of 2.797 percent early on Friday, probing its highest levels since April 2014.
The euro edged down 0.1 percent on the day to $1.2499, but remained within sight of last week’s 3-year high of $1.2538. For the week, it was up 0.6 percent.
Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar was slightly higher on the day at 109.50, holding above a four-month nadir of 108.28 hit a week ago.
• The US Dollar corrected higher following yesterday’s selloff. All eyes now turn to January’s Employment data, which is expected to show that job creation accelerated last month. Consensus forecasts envision an 180,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls, a notable improvement from the 148,000 recorded in the prior month. The jobless rate is seen holding unchanged at 4.1 percent, matching a 17-year low.
What’s more, the pace of wage inflation is seen rising to the 2.6 percent, the highest in four months. That might bolster cautiously optimistic Fed rhetoric citing firming price growth expectations in the policy statement released earlier this week, boosting rate hike bets. Critically, none of this may be enough to offer meaningful support to the beleaguered greenback.
A disconnect has emerged: the US currency has fallen even as the priced-in Fed tightening path has steepened. That seems to reflect a focus on other central banks’ increasing capacity to play catch-up to the FOMC’s hawkish lead against a backdrop of broadly improving global growth. Strong US labor-market data may be read as broadly supportive of this narrative, sending the benchmark unit counter-intuitively lower.
• U.S. job growth likely accelerated in January and wages increased further, underscoring the strong momentum in the economy at the start of the year.
Nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 180,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, after rising 148,000 in December. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent.
The Labor Department will release its closely watched employment report on Friday at 08:30 am.
• Average hourly earnings are forecast rising 0.3 percent in January after a similar gain in December. That would lift the year-on-year increase in average hourly earnings to 2.6 percent from2.5 percent in December.
The anticipated rise in wages will reflect increases in the minimum wage which came into effect in 18 states last month. Wages could also get a lift from the tax cut. Companies like Starbucks Corp and FedEx Corp have said they will use some of the savings from lower taxes to boost wages for workers.
Further gains are likely in February when Walmart raises entry-level wages for hourly employees at its U.S. stores.
• Industrial workers in Germany started a third day of 24-hour strikes over pay and working hours on Friday, downing their tools at companies including carmakers Mercedes-Benz and Porsche and airplane maker Airbus.
The full-day walkouts, which are due to end late on Friday, are labor union IG Metall’s last warning shot before votes are cast on whether to take extended industrial action that could cost German companies hundreds of millions of euros in lost production.
Both the union and employers have said they are open to resuming talks on Monday next week, but they have each insisted that the other side show more willingness to make concessions.
• Oil rose for a third day on Friday after a survey showed strong compliance with output cuts by OPEC and others including Russia, offsetting concerns about surging U.S. production.
Brent futures, the global benchmark, were up 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $69.89 a barrel by 0635 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 33 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $66.13 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters,CNBC
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