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• The dollar rose on Friday and is on track for its fourth consecutive week of gains as investors trimmed some short bets on growing views that interest rate markets are underpricing the extent of U.S. rate increases over the coming months.

The dollar index, which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six major currencies, edged up 0.2 percent to 94.097 .DXY. It rose to 94.112 at one point on Friday, its strongest level since mid-August.

• Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that "the long-awaited global recovery is taking root" and that three-quarters of the globe is enjoying an economic upswing in "the broadest-based acceleration since the start of the decade."

• U.S. job growth probably slowed further in September as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left displaced workers temporarily unemployed and delayed hiring, the latest indication that the storms undercut economic activity in the third quarter.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, the Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday will likely show that nonfarm payrolls increased by 90,000jobs last month after rising by 156,000 in August.

• Russian government-backed hackers stole highly classified U.S. cyber secrets in 2015 from the National Security Agency after a contractor put information on his home computer, two newspapers reported on Thursday.

• U.S. Republican Representative Tim Murphy will resign from Congress on Oct. 21, House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday, following a report alleging that Murphy had asked a woman with whom he was having an affair to get an abortion.

• Growth in the number of workers hired in Britain via recruitment agencies slowed last month and fell in London for the first time in nearly a year as Brexit makes it harder for companies to find staff, a survey showed on Friday.

The IHS Markit/Recruitment and Employment Confederation said permanent roles filled by recruitment firms rose at the weakest pace in five months.

• British shops enjoyed their biggest jump in sales in more than three years in September, a survey of the retail sector showed, suggesting consumers are finding ways to cope with the squeeze on their incomes.

• Catalonia might be the separatist region making headlines at the moment but Europe has many other separatist movements that are closely watching developments in northeastern Spain.

Countries like Germany and Italy where states can have very distinct linguistic, cultural and historical differences tend to have numerous and significant separatist movements to contend with.

• Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citi, told CNBC on Wednesday that "the Europe of regions is making a comeback."

"Too many countries in the European Union have secessionist problems, including the U.K., Belgium and Italy and this is not a unique problem," he said.

Here. CNBC highlights some of the larger and long-standing separatist movements that are monitoring Catalonia's referendum with interest.

• Oil markets were cautious on Friday as traders monitored a tropical storm heading for the Gulf of Mexico and as China remained closed for a week-long public holiday.

But the prospect of extended oil production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers led by Russia helped support prices.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was trading at $50.63 per barrel at 0650 GMT, down 16 cents from its last close. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 12 cents at $56.88 a barrel.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC